Infinite Posibilities
by Sulphur99
Summary: The Namikazes always had a unique ability: The power of possibilities…Minato gained the Hiraishin in order to reach those he wanted to protect fast enough. Now, Naruto will make his own wish and unlock the power of infinite possibilities. With this power, will he protect? Or will he destroy?
1. Chapter 1:Dreams

**Author's note: Hi! I have been on this site for quite some time now and since I had some ideas swirling around my mind, I thought that I should give writing a fanficion a go. So here I am! Anyways, I am an amateur so my writing may not be up to your expectations. However, if you could give me some constructive criticism, it would really help improve my writing. I would really appreciate it. On another note, I need a beta reader so if you're interested please PM me. Sorry for the relatively long note but I can't promise I'll stop.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any other things that I may borrow from other series. Naruto and the aforementioned things belong to Kishimoto-san and their respective owners.**

**Normal talking:** "I will never give up!"

**Jutsus: **"Kage Bunshin no Justu! (Shadow Clone Justu!)"

**Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuu/Summons: **_**"Who dares to summon me?!"**_

**EDIT (28/1/2015): Slight changes and alterations were done. Errors might still be present.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Dreams.

_On a hill in an unknown location, three kids; a boy and two girls, sat enjoying each other's company in comfortable silence. Suddenly, streaks of light flashed across the starry sky._

"_Ah! How pretty…" One of the girls exclaimed. The other two nodded to signal their agreement._

_They watched in silence as the meteor shower illuminated the night sky._

"_Hey….Lets make a promise…" The other girl said, breaking the silence._

"_A promise?" The boy parroted, the first girl looking at the second curiously._

"_Um…Promise that the three of us will always be together!" The second girl replied beaming at the other two. _

"_Yeah, that sounds great!" The boy agreed, smiling. The first girl nodded to show her agreement._

_The three got up and clasped their hands together, the starry sky bearing witness to their promise..._

* * *

Groaning, a boy woke up from his peaceful sleep. He had blond, spikey hair and blue eyes which held a shine of determination in them. He wore a white shirt with a spiral symbol and green shorts. His most defining features were the whisker marks on his cheeks. His name was Uzumaki Naruto.

"That dream again…Wish I really had friends like that…" Naruto muttered, a wistful expression on his face. "Who were those kids anyway?" He asked himself, scrunching his face up in thought. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember any notable features of the kids. Giving up, Naruto stretched himself and started the day.

(5 minutes later)

Freshened up and now dressed in an orange tracksuit with blue on the upper shoulders area as well as around the waist, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red Uzumaki swirl crest on the back, a large white collar, orange pants and a pair of green goggles, he ate an quick breakfast of eggs, ham and cheese sandwiches and a glass of milk. With no one taking care of him, Naruto had to learn how to cook for himself. The past 2 years of cooking have made him into a decent cook, though he couldn't remember who taught him.

It was Sunday, so he did not have any lessons at the Academy. With nothing else to do at home, Naruto wore his sandals and went out to the bustling village (though it was more like a city). He walked through the streets, while pondering on what to do today. He got hate-filled glares and stares from the villagers but as he was used to them, he simply brushed them off. He didn't know why they hated him so much, he stopped pranking 2 years ago so it couldn't have been that. And his pranks NEVER did any permanent damage anyway so even if he didn't stop, there should have been no reason he got THAT much hate. He didn't remember who convinced him to stop pranking though, only that someone did.

The nine year old muttered to himself "Wait 'till I become Hokage and then see if you all will hate me."

He decided to go to a training ground to well, train. When he got there, he looked around cautiously but to his relief, it was empty. Getting to work, he passed the rather uneventful morning trying to do the Leaf Concentration practice. He knew the importance of chakra control as that lesson was one of the few lessons that he did not sleep through or was sent out from. If he keeps trying, maybe he'll finally get that pesky Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Jutsu) down. He trained for some time, taking a break in between for lunch. Getting bored of trying to keep a leaf on his head, Naruto started to do some physical training consisting of basic exercises such as push-ups and squats. They don't really help much in terms of quickly becoming a kickass ninja, but they were neccesary in the long run; especially for Taijutsu.

Time passed quickly and it was soon time for dinner. Naruto strolled to Ichiraku's, already anticipating the salty, delicious broth of ramen. Again since two years ago, Naruto had reduced his intake of ramen. It was painful to his stomach and taste buds but it allowed him to have a healthier body and height. But, yet again, he could not remember why he stopped or who made him do that.

"Yo, Teuchi-ossan, Ayame-neechan!" Naruto greeted jubilantly. The ramen chef and his daughter Ayame were some of the few civilians who did not resent Naruto. They had helped him a lot over the past few years and for that he was grateful.

"Oh, Naruto! Haven't seen you in a while, how's your training?" Teuchi asked. He viewed Naruto as a second child and wanted to adopt him. Sadly, those damned council members rejected his application time and time again to adopt Naruto. He and Ayame were very attached to him and would sometimes give him ramen for free on his rainy days.

"So, what'll you have today?"

"Tonkotsu Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. He has not eaten ramen for 2 weeks and is eager to consume the delicious noodle dish.

He chatted with Teuchi and Ayame over his ramen and bid them farewell when he was done. It was already evening and Naruto started towards his apartment. It wasn't the best of places but it was his home and he liked it.

"What are you doing here, demon scum?" A random man shouted at Naruto. Judging from the sway in his steps and slur in his words, he was obviously drunk. Hoping to avoid confrontation, Naruto hastened his pace but it was no use. Soon the drunken man and his company were within reaching distance from him. A shove came from behind and Naruto lost his balance, falling to the ground. Seizing the opportunity, the drunken man and co. tried to punch him. In a split second decision, Naruto managed to do a sweep and made the man fall down. Now unobstructed, Naruto ran towards a random direction. Years of running from people like them provided Naruto with an advantage over the drunken group, and he managed to dodge them. Panting to catch his breath, Naruto slumped down against an alley wall.

"Yeah….I'm not going back there." Naruto muttered to himself. Fortunately, the rest of the trip back home was uneventful. Tired, Naruto quickly showered, changed and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

_Again on the same hill, the three kids silently made their promise together._

"_Oh yeah! I want to give something to you guys!" The second girl exclaimed, searching her bag for something, the other two kids looking at each other in confusion. Face lighting up, she took out three star-shaped charms. They were made out of stained glass with silver frames, and have brown stitches and a brown cord tied to the topmost part._

"_What are these?" The boy asked._

"_They're lucky charms, one for all three for us. My imouto (little sister) and I made them. They symbolize good luck and strong bonds!"_

_The second girl proudly stated. The first girl's charm had green stained glass, the second girl's was blue and the boy's was red._

"_Wow; thanks!" The boy and the first girl happily said._

"_Hey, how about you sing for us eh?" The first girl slyly said to the boy._

"_Sur-Wait what!?" The boy exclaimed, shocked._

"_Are you deaf? I asked you to sing for us!"_

"_Why would you want me to sing?" The boy asked, bewildered._

_The first girl turned her head away to hide her blush and stuttered out" I-i-it's n-n-not l-like I l-like h-h-hearing y-y-ou s-sing or anything. B-baka!_

_Still unsure, the boy turned to the other girl for support. However, her face was red as well._

"_I-I wanna hear you sing too…"She muttered._

"_Wha-Agh fine….Just this once ok?" The boy said, sighing in defeat. The two girls cheered and their faces immediately brightened up. The sudden change in mood made the boy sweatdrop._

"_I don't sing that good do I?" He questioned himself._

_Taking a deep breath, the boy started to sing…_

* * *

"BBBRRIIINNG!"

Startled, Naruto fell off his bed and landed painfully on the floor.

"Ow…Stupid alarm…" Naruto grumbled, stopping the annoying ring of the alarm. He quickly got dressed and had another quick breakfast. Checking his bags to see if he brought all his textbooks, Naruto went off to the Academy. As he walked at a leisurely pace, Naruto could not help but remember the song in his dream. It seemed to called out to him and because of that, the lyrics and tune were stuck in his head and he could just not seem to get them out of his mind. Engrossed in his thoughts, Naruto did not notice that he had already reached the Academy and his body was on auto-pilot towards his class. So engrossed was Naruto that he could not avoid a collision with someone in front of him.

"Kya!" The sudden scream snapped Naruto out of his thoughts as he fell. Rubbing the sore spot on his back where he fell, he looked forward to see who he had collided with. When he saw who it was however, he immediately paled. A pretty, fair skinned girl his age got up in front of him. Her onyx eyes glared venomously at Naruto as she scowled at him. She had straight black hair tied back in a cute twin tail style. She was the most popular student of the Academy, Satsuki Uchiha.

"What's the big idea dobe?" She angrily said. In the background, many of Satsuki's fans were enraged. How dare this loser make their Satsuki fall down! Many were planning to get "revenge" for their "Satsuki-sama's" honor.

"Ahhh, sorry Satsuki-san!" Naruto blurted out, panicking. Her fans were notorious for being extremely dangerous if anyone so much as bump into their "Satsuki-sama", even among their own cliques. Appartenly they feel that no one should be able to even touch their idol. He didn't really respect the Uchiha that much, but survial instincts against the multiple rabid fans behind him made him worried for his life. Picking up his bag, Naruto did the only thing that anyone could have possibly have done in this situation: He ran away. Fast. Dashing away from the growing angry mob, Naruto made a beeline for his class. Making it there without any incident, Naruto slumped down on his table and tried to catch his breath. Suddenly, a hand forcefully grabbed his collar and dragged his out of his seat. Startled, Naruto turned and saw a boy his age with messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth and the most defining feature of all, the distinctive red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks. He was Inuzuka Kiba, one of Satsuki most "loyal(read: obsessed)" followers. Gulping, Naruto tried to diffuse the situation.

"H-hey Kiba…Can I help you?"

Kiba gave no reply and simply growled at Naruto. He raised his fist ad Naruto knew he would not be able to catch the blow. So he shut his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain. It never came. Opening his eyes, Naruto looked up to see a man with brown hair tied in a ponytail. He wears the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with forehead protector, sandals, and flak jacket. His sleeves are also slightly rolled up. He had black eyes and a scar across his nose. He was Umino Iruka, the sensei for Naruto's class.

"There will be absolutely NO fighting in my class! Do I make myself clear Kiba?" Iruka asked; his expression stern.

Backing down, Kiba let go of Naruto; glaring at him. Relieved, Naruto went back to his seat. In a fist fight against Kiba, Naruto knew he would lose. The Inuzuka were known for their prowess in Taijutsu and Naruto wasn't exactly very good at it nor did he have any Ninjutsu to combat him with. With the lesson starting, Naruto tried to focus on Iruka's lesson, ignoring the loud fanboying which signalled Satsuki's arrival into the class.

The lunch bell rang and on cue most of the students rushed out of the class. Naruto, who has been repeatedly denied service from the lunch ladies, made his own bento which he silently ate in a secluded area near his classroom. Again, the song came unbidden in his mind. Seeing as no one was around, Naruto decided to sing some of the lyrics in hope of getting them out of his mind.

"_Mada kurai asa no machi wo - (From the still-dark morning's town_

_Yami ga sukoshi tokete yuku yo - The darkness is slowly lifting up_

_Tell me, boku ga sagashiteiru - Tell me, I'm searching_

_Kotae ni mo itsuka wa - for the answer to when _

_Mabushii hikari ga sasu?" - the dazzling light will shine)_

A gasp broke Naruto's focus from his song. Turning all he could see was hints of black hair running away from him. Whoever was there was now gone. The bell rang again and Naruto packed his bento up and went back to class.

But he can't help but think: who was watching me?

* * *

Gasping for breath a lone girl stood in front of a mirror in the washroom.

"How? How does the dobe know that song!?" She whispered to herself.

"I-I need to find out more…" Looking up she calmed herself and walked back to class with a new goal.

Uchiha Satsuki was determined to find out the truth. The truth of what her repeated dreams meant.

* * *

**So what do you think? Tell me what are your opinions on this story. Constructive criticism and normal reviews only please. Flames will be used to cook ramen. If this story gains enough support I'll try my best to update regularly. No promises though, for I have school. Well, I'll (hopefully) see you all next time!**

**PS: The song is Message by Koji Seto.**


	2. Chapter 2: Run for your Life!

**A/N: Hello guys and gals! I had too much time on my hands so here's a new chapter! Bet you weren't expecting one so soon huh? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**Normal talking:** "I will never give up!"

**Jutsus: **"**Kage Bunshin no Justu! (Shadow Clone Justu!)"**

**Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuu/Summons: **_**"Who dares to summon me?!"**_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Run for your life!**

_As she ran in fear from the pandemonium around her, she saw the devastation cause by the nuke-nins. The village around her was in ruins, burning down and its inhabitants getting slaughtered around her. She saw a small child standing alone sobbing in fear as well as her injured friend lying a distance away from the child, arms shaking and reaching out towards the child. Suddenly, a fireball lauched out and exploded at where the child was standing. Not a single trace of the child was left. Devastated, her friend dropped to his knees and screamed in anguish. As more nuke-nins approached, she heard her friend scream. _

"_You did this! This is all your fault! You killed her! I-I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" The nuke-nins just laughed at her friend. After all, what could one seven-year old child do to them? _

_The boy then wordlessly shouted out in rage. _"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"_She couldn't hear the rest as her world exploded in raging flames._

* * *

Snapping her eyes open, Satsuki awoke from her sleep. Rising up from her soft, luxurious bed, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Mou...Another weird dream..."She grumbled. These sort of dreams were starting to get slightly more frequent than usual. They usually consisted of her being happily playing with two other children or weird dreams like the one just now. She knew that they were just dreams as she had no memory of a burning village or ever having any friends to play with. Sure, she had her large fanbase, but she didn't exactly consider them "friends" of any sort nor did she really interact with them either. She just let them do their own thing so long as they don't get in her way.

Her fanbase isn't just limited to just her fellow schoolmates though. No, she had many adult fans too. They were usually shopkeepers who would give her insane discounts or sometimes even things for free.

How nice. How pathetic. She hated it. All she wanted was to be able to get strong enough to kill **that **man. The one who ruined everything. Breaking out of her thoughts, she hurriedly freshened up and got dressed. She now wore a blue t-shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol at the back along with a plain black skirt and black ninja sandals. Her hair was tied up in twin tails with a pair of red ribbons she got as a birthday present two years ago. As she walked down the wooden hallways of the Uchiha compound, she tried not to think about the days where these empty halls used to be vibrant with life and activity. It was depressing and made her feel lonelier than she already was. True, she had slowly gotten used to it over the past year, but the wounds on her mind and heart still felt fresh. Making a quick breakfast of eggs scrambled with tomatoes, quickly fed herself and got ready for Academy lessons.

As she was walking however, she couldn't help but think about the newly found enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto. She didn't really think much of him, only that he was a slight nuisance with his actions. She respected his will of never giving up though. She was also slightly curious on why some teachers used to send him out of class for the pettiest reasons, but since it didn't affect her at all, she ignored it. Other than that, she didn't really pay much attention to him.

But now, with him suddenly knowing the song that appeared in her recurring dreams you could say she was...intrigued. She never told anyone about her dreams or any details in them. She didn't hear the song from anywhere other than her dreams so it couldn't have been a popular song. If her dreams were actually memories, and Naruto used to be her friend, she needed to know why they stopped being friends and why couldn't she remember her time with him and the other girl. Realising that she had already reached the Academy, Satsuki broke herself from her thoughts and headed for her classroom.

As expected, the classroom was devoid of any human life aside from herself. Sitting at her usual seat at the upper left corner of the room, next to a window, Satsuki glanced at the clock hung up on the wall near the blackboard. It was 7.50 a.m, meaning that lessons would be starting in 30 minutes. Suddenly, the classroom door opened. Expecting it to be the Iruka, Satsuki prepare a greeting to him. What she did not expect however, was to see a certain blond-haired boy standing at the door instead of Iruka. Awkwardly, Naruto raised a hand and made a small wave to her.

"Erm...Good morning." He said to her.

"Morning." She grunted back, nodding at him.

" S-sorry for bumping into you the other day!" Naruto blurted out after a long awkward silence. Accepting his apology, Satsuki decided to get some information out of him.

"Uzumaki."

"Eh?"

"I have something I want to ask you."

But at that moment the bell rang and other students started to stream into the class. Having lost her chance, Satsuki turned her attention away from Naruto and stopped speaking. She didn't want any rumours spreading and a boy and a girl being in a room talking alone was quick fuel for rumours to spread. Even if she didn't like the attention she got, she still had a reputation to keep. Realising that Satsuki has stopped the conversation, Naruto went back to his seat.

* * *

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he walked out of the classroom, lessons having finally ended. Wanting to get a bit more of training in, he went to find a training ground. He eventually found one and started to do some push-ups and burpees. Again, he did 15 of each and then start on the Leaf concentration exercise. Focusing his chakra, Naruto tried to beat his previous limit of five minutes. He managed to improve by a small ten seconds but it was quite insignificant. Demotivated, Naruto sat down.

"Ah...What should I do now?" He asked himself. Then, he noticed a long branch near him. He had always liked the idea of using a katana(or similar bladed weapons), so he picked up the branch. Giving it a few test swings, he put it in front of him in a basic stance he remembered seeing some Chūnins using when they were training. He then started to do some slashs at the air, trying to get a feel on how to use a katana. After an hour with little to no progress, Naruto figured that swinging a branch around did nothing to help him and headed back home. On his way home, Naruto got some unwelcome company.

"Oh, look who's here, the demon brat!" A drunk spat out. He and his fellow drunks started to gather and soon a mob appeared.

"Lets get revenge on the demon for our lost family!" Chants and shouts of agreement rose out from the drunken crowd. With no options left, Naruto hurriedly ran away from the bloodthirsty mob. They gave chase after him, wielding an assortment of random objects that they picked up. Naruto eventually reached a fenced off area with signs reading: "Warning! Forest of Death ahead! Do not go in unless you have special permission from the Hokage!" But Naruto, who was running for his life, did not even notice the sign. Preferring to be inside a forest than be beaten by an angry mob, Naruto quickly climbed the fence and dashed into the thick forest. With the sounds of the mob fading away, Naruto dropped down and leaned against a tree,exhausted.

"Whew...That was close..." But then he noticed his location. "...Erm...Where am I?" Glancing around the unfamiliar forest, Naruto started to panic. All the directions looked the same and he could not pinpoint where he ran in from.

_**"I'm gonna die..." **_A female voice rang out.

"Huh? What was that? Who's there?" Shocked, Naruto looked around frantically.

_**"Ah, you can hear me?"**_

"Y-yeah, but who and where are you?"

_**"It doesn't matter...I'm going to die anyway..."**_

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked confused, as he walked towards the direction of the voice.

"_**I don't have any more energy left, I don't think I'll last much longer..."**_ Finally finding the source of the voice, Naruto was shocked to see a dark-skinned girl collapsed on the ground. But that wasn't what shocked him. No, it was because her body seemed to be smouldering while her hair seemed to be made out of fire. Oh, and that she was naked. There was that too.

"What happened to you? How can I help you?" Naruto asked, his kindness shining through his caution of this weird girl.

"_**I'm...**_

Face serious, Naruto asked. "You're?"

"_**I'm..."**_

Again, Naruto asked. "You're?"

_**"****I'm soooooo huuunnngry..." **_

Face-faulting, Naruto shouted. "THAT'S IT?!"

**(An hour later)**

_**"Ah...I'm saved"**_ The tiny girl said, rubbing her sated belly. She was now dressed in a set of spare clothes that Naruto had.

Naruto looked at her annoyed, as she ate about a week's worth of his food. For someone that small, she sure could eat a lot...He somehow managed to get her back to his apartment, after a long search for an exit, without anyone seeing. Thank Kami for that too, for he was already embarrassed holding a naked girl in his hands. He didn't need being assumed to be a rapist to add on to his already bad reputation among the villagers.

"So? Who are you? Why were you collapsed in the forest?" Naruto asked.

_**"Huh? Oh, I was exploring the place." **_The girl said nonchalantly.

"Exploring?"

_**"Yup! I just got here a few days ago. I was strolling two days ago and I saw this forest. I got curious, so I went inside to check it out."**_

"Ok, but that still doesn't explain why you were collapsed there."

"_**Ah...About that...I may have forgot to bring some supplies with me." **_She said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. Face-faulting once more, Naruto sighed in exasperation.

_**"Anyway,since you saved me I now owe you. So, what do you want?"**_ She asked, leaning back on the chair.

"Huh? I don't need anything." Naruto said.

_**"Eh? You don't want anything?"**_

"Nope."

_**"Then why did you help me?"**_

That gave Naruto pause. Indeed,why did he save her? Suddenly, a scene flashed by him.

* * *

_A lone girl about seven-years old was surrounded by a group of older kids. _

"_You think you're so great just because you were born into a clan?" one of them asked._

"_N-n-n-n-no t-t-that's n-n-not t-true." The girl stuttered out,terrified._

"_She's lying, all of you clan people are all looking down on us that's what Dad and Mom told me!"Another boy shouted._

"_N-n-no I-I-I d-d-don't!" The girl denied._

_Suddenly, a voice rang out. _

"_Hey, pick on someone your own size!" A boy shouted at the bullies._

"_Oh, look, it's **that** guy." The first bully sneered._

"_My Mom and Dad told me to stay away from him. They said that he was dangerous."_

"_Bah, what can a little kid do? Get him!" _

_**(10 minutes later)**_

_Gasping in pain, the boy collapsed on the ground. The bullies laughed and walked off. Seeing that the danger was gone, the girl timidly went to the injured boy._

"_A-a-ano...A-a-are y-y-y-you o-o-ok?_

"_Yeah, hurts a lot though." The boy replied in a pained voice._

"_W-w-why d-d-did y-y-y-ou h-help m-me?" The girl shyly asked._

"_Huh? Do I need a reason to help someone?" The boy replied, smiling radiantly at the last part._

* * *

"_What was that?"_ Naruto thought to himself. But the words seemed to resonate within him.

_**"I ask you again, why did you help me?"**_ The girl asked with a serious tone. This time, almost reflexively Naruto answered.

"Do I need a reason to help someone?"

Shocked into silence by his answer, the girl stared at Naruto. She did not expect a child to say something like that.

Getting a hold of herself she asked: _**"Surely there's something you want?"**_

"Well, I do want to know how to use a katana...Like how some of the Jōnin do! But, I don't think anyone would want to teach me..." After hearing his request, the girl grinned.

_**"Well, you're in luck! I just so happen to be an expert at using swords!" **_The girl claimed proudly.

"Ah, I see."Naruto said nonchalantly and looked away while his brain started to compute what she said.

"EEEHHHHHH?!" He did a double-take and shouted in suprise.

"But you look younger than me!"

**_"Ufufu,only in appearance boy! I have been around for thousands of years!" _**She stated proudly.

"Doesn't that make you old?" Poor Naruto, he forgot the first rule when it came to women: NEVER call them old. A tick mark appeared on the girl's head and her eyes were shadowed.

**_"I AM NOT OLD! I AM JUST EXPERIENCED!" _**She screamed out, her hair flaring up. Luckily, she had enough self-control to not burn through Naruto's spare clothes.

"Ack! I'm sorry,I'm sorry!" Naruto yelled out in a panic.

Calming herself down, she folded her arms across her chest and glared at Naruto.

_**"Now that you understand, do you want to learn how to use a katana or not?"**_

Nodding eagerly, Naruto said: "Yes, please!"

Satisfied with his answer, the girl then stood up to walk away towards Naruto's bedroom.

_**"Then your training shall start tommorow.I'm going to get some sleep. Oyasumi (Goodnight)!"**_

"Oyasumi...Wait, we still haven't introduced ourselves! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, what's your name?"

_**"Hmmm, you can call me Salamander."**_

Salamander...That was the name of the girl that was going to train him. Excited for tomorrow, Naruto cleared the dishes. When he was done, he realised one important detail.

"Wait...If she's sleeping in my room, where will I sleep?!"

* * *

**A/N: So, how was it? Like what I did? Or did you hate it?**

**If I get enough reviews, I may answer some of them. Oh and did you like the little preview I put? Do you think I should do that for all the other chapters from now on? **

**Please leave review to let me know!**

**P.S: I still need a beta/co-writer...**

**P.P.S: Props to you if you could guess who was the girl in the flashback. Should be pretty obvious though...Props to you too if you know where I got Salamander from!**


	3. Chapter 3: Hidden Secrets

**A/N: Agh... Again, too much time on my hands, so here's another chapter! Now, since I've seen some of the reviews I've gotten, I would like to answer them and/or clear some misconceptions. (I'll only answer those with enough things for me to answer though.)**

**So let's start with the reviews from the last 2 chapters.**

**Without Sleep: Thanks for your review, while this IS my first time writing a fanfic, I wouldn't say it is my first time writing per say. As for how long this fic would be, I am aiming for to at least reach the 100K+ range. Ambitious, I know but I want to set a high goal for my first time.**

**Dayfox96: Thank you for you kind words, I am intending to make the suspense last for quite a bit of time, possibly as a small sub-plot. I am not very confident in writing fight/ romance scenes but I will take your advice into account and try my best.**

**Greenblue22: Thank you for your review, the identity of the second girl may be revealed soon so let as see if your guess is correct shall we? (Even though it should be kinda obvious)**

**Wandering Bard Alpha: It's a little hard for me NOT to do a harem when this story is already heading into the direction of having a harem. Yes folks, it's official. This story WILL have Naruto getting a harem. Who's in the harem? I won't say for now other than the two girls in his dreams.**

**Renegadestarforce: Fairy Tail? I have nothing of the sort in this fanfiction. I think you assumed that because of the name Salamander. Well, I'll tell you now, Salamander is NOT Natsu Dragneel in any way, shape or form. Naruto will not be learning any Fire Dragon Slaying Techiques. At all. That ain't meant for this fanfiction.**

**Anyway, if you guys haven't realised it by now, I am taking some elements from Kingdom Hearts. However, I am simply taking some concepts from it which I think would fit well into this piece of writing. There will be no Heartless and Nobodies though, nor will any characters from KH appear.**

**On other news, I am impressed by the number of views this story is getting. Barely a week and this story has already broke a 1000 total views. I think that's a pretty good achievement, considering the fact that this is my first fanfiction. I would like to thank all you readers for giving this story a chance! You guys/gals rock!**

**Finally, I would like to wish any Muslim viewers: Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitr! (Even though it is a little early by the time this chapter has been posted.)**

**I appologize for this long A/N but I needed to get somethings out of the way.**

**Edit(3/15/2015): Made some minor changes, cleared up a couple of notable errors. Removed song due to irrelevancy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**Normal talking:** "I will never give up!"

**Jutsus: "Kage Bunshin no Justu! (Shadow Clone Justu!)"**

**Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuu/Summons: **_**"Who dares to summon me?!"**_

* * *

**Chapter 3:Hidden Secrets**

"Ahhh..." Plopping down on his couch, Naruto struggled to catch his breath. His entire body was aching and his clothes were scorched. It had been 2 weeks since Salamander had started training him. He shivered when he remembered the absolute hell he was put through in just two weeks.

* * *

"_Why did you ask me to wear my spare clothes?" Naruto asked, confused. They were standing in an empty training ground. _

"_**You'll seen soon enough!"**_ _Salamander said with a huge grin on her face._

"_**Now before we start on your swordsmanship training, we're going to do some light exercises and by we, I mean you."**_

_"Ok...But what will we be doing?"_

"_**You want to be a ninja right?"**_

_"Yeah." Naruto repiled, suddenly having a feeling of dread._

"_**Well then, you're going to have to learn how to dodge attacks then!"**_ _As she said that, a fireball appeared above her hand. She then chucked it straight at Naruto._

_"GAH!" Screaming in fear, Naruto quickly jumped to the left, dodging the fireball._

_"Are you trying to kill me?!" He shouted with his eyes wide, still shaken from having a fireball thrown at him_.

"_**Nonsense! These fireballs are toned down so they won't outright kill you...Unless you get hit too much of course. Enough chit-chat, let's begin~!"**_

* * *

Naruto dreaded to think about what other horrors await him in his training. He still had to go to the Academy after training and he was not looking forward to it. Changing into his normal outfit, Naruto picked up his bag and dragged his sore body to class.

**Meanwhile...**

Satsuki was in deep thought as she ignored the gaggle of fans around her. The more she pondered the mystery revolving around her, Naruto and the other unknown girl, the more confusing it got. If they were as close as her dreams told her they were, why did they seperate from each other? And why couldn't she remember? It was so frustrating! The bell rang and she knew class had started, but she just couldn't focus on the lesson, instead looking out the window beside her.

**(8 hours later)**

With lessons ending, Satsuki calmly packed her bags. She was still perplexed by her situation. Remembering her conversation with Naruto, she then realised that she hadn't asked her question yet. Resolving to find him, Satsuki went out from the Academy's main gate on to the streets of Konoha.

**Meanwhile...**

Sarutobi giggled to himself as he turned the page of his student's novel,Icha Icha Paradise. He greatly enjoyed his student's works as a good distractions from the horrors of paperwork. Suddenly somebody knocked on the door.

"Hah...Come in..." Sarutobi sighed, thinking it was his secretary bring more paperwork to him. To his pleasant surprise however, he saw a certain blond boy at the door.

"Ah, Naruto, it has been quite some time since you last visited me. Don't tell me you're getting bored of this old man." Sarutobi joked. He was happy to see his surrogate grandson doing well, especially after **that **incident two years ago.

"Yo Jiji (Old man)! Sorry, I was busy training to become an awesome ninja like you." Naruto said jubilantly. He hadn't seen his surrogate grandfather for quite a long time. Sarutobi had taken care of him ever since he was kicked out of the orphanage when he was five and for that he was grateful to the old Hokage.

"So, why are you here today Naruto?" Sarutobi asked. Not that he minded the company, but he was curious as to why Naruto visited now.

Suddenly, Naruto's happy expression changed to a troubled one.

"N-ne Jiji, I've...been having these strange dreams lately..."

"Strange dreams?" Sarutobi inquired, now slightly worried. He did **NOT **want to give the talk to Naruto, at least not now. "_I need my alone time dammit!"_

"Yeah. I've been dreaming about weird stuff. Things like sitting on a hill with two friends and making a promise or fighting a giant shadow version of myself."

"Perhaps they were simply nightmares?" Sarutobi suggested.

"I thought so too but...The dreams about making a promise...It felt so real and more like a memory..." Naruto said, downcast.

"If these dreams aren't dreams and are actually memories, then why can't I remember who they were? Why aren't they with me now? Why...why am I alone?!" Naruto frantically said, shouting the last part. Sarutobi was shocked into silence. He did not expect Naruto to be habouring such dark thoughts. But before he could comfort him, Naruto then turned back towards the door.

"I-I'm sorry for disturbing you Jiji...Take care of yourself."And then he walked away.

"Hah..." Sarutobi sighed to himself. "So...He's starting to remember..." He turned himself to face the wall with portraits of past Hokages hung on it,but he was only looking at one portrait in paticular.

"Sometimes...I wonder if I made the right decision Minato. All I can do now is hope that when he remembers everything, he will be able remain sane." Sarutobi mused, taking out his pipe and lighting it up with a small, quick fire jutsu. Now, all he could do is hope that Naruto would one day understand his actions.

**(An hour later)**

**_"You seem depressed."_** Salamander noted, looking concerned at Naruto.

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." Naruto muttered back.

_**"Anything you want to get off your chest?"**_ Salamander inquired. Naruto hesitated, before saying.

"What should you do when you've been dreaming of things that felt like memories, but you don't actually have any memory of it?"

"_**Huh?"**_ Salamander said, confused by the question.

"N-nevermind, I'm going to bathe." Naruto said, rushing to the bathroom, leaving Salamander to worry about her new student. Over the past few days, he was starting to grow on her. He was hardworking, determined and never gave up. Sure, he complained a lot but he ended up doing whatever she asked for anyway. Naruto had a lot of potential and seemed fit to be a swordsman.

However, she has observed that beneath his happy-go-lucky appearance, something or someone seems to be bothering him. She honestly felt worried as she hadn't had a student in a long time and didn't want to stop training a boy with so much potential like Naruto.

"_**Guess I'll leave him alone for now. Wouldn't want to pry."**_

* * *

Tired, Satsuki plopped down on her plush,comfy bed. Her room wasn't what one would call "girly", only having what was neccesary like a dresser, a couple of windows, and two sliding doors. One lead to a bathroom and the other lead to a hallway connecting to the rest of the compound. She couldn't find Naruto at all throughout the village! It was so frustrating! Huffing, she laid down and decided to get some sleep as it was getting late.

* * *

"_Your Message~?" As the boy finished singing, the two girls seated next to him clapped happily. _

"_Ah...Finished."_

"_That was great!" The first girl cheered, the second one nodding._

"_Glad you two enjoyed it..." The boy said in an annoyed and sarcastic tone. _

"_Yosh, now it's both of your turns!" The boy exclaimed._

"_EEEHHHH?!" The two girls shouted in surprise._

"_It's only fair! You go first!" The boy said, pointing at the first girl._

"_M-me? Why me?" She protested._

"_You were the one who told me to sing so now it's your turn!" _

_The girl grumbled something unintelligeble under her breath before sighing._

"_F-f-fine, but i-i-it's n-not l-l-like I'm d-doing it for y-y-you or anything." She said, turning her blushing face away._

"_Yatta (All Right)!"_

"_Mou..Baka..."_

* * *

Naruto woke up from yet another dream. They seemed to be getting more and more frequent...

Getting ready for another round of training from Salamander, Naruto freshened up and went to cook breakfast for both himself and Salamander.

**Meanwhile...**

Satsuki yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"_Today, I'll talk to the dobe for sure!" _She thought to herself as she got ready for the day. She was tired of not getting any answers and wanted to at least get some more information this time. With her goal in mind, she set out for the Academy.

**10 minutes later...**

To her disappointment, the blond Uzumaki was nowhere to be seen. Realising that she may not get another chance like last time, she decided to try and find him after class. Thus, she started to thnk about what to say. She couldn't come across as too interested otherwise rumours might spread if they were seen. But she shouldn't come across as too cold or he might be scared off. Agh, being tactful is so annoying...

**At the same time...**

Naruto walked across the hallway of the Academy. To his relief, Salamander had decided to give him a small break from training today, instead going out to "take care of some business" in her own words. What "business" Naruto didn't know but he didn't think it would be good for his health.

Sliding the door open, Naruto did not expect to see the unofficial Academy Idol to be sittting alone in the classroom. Noticing his arrival, she turned to look at him. For a split second, she looked like she was happy to see him, but then her expression faded back into her usual indifferent face. Thinking that it was only a figment of his imagination, Naruto shook it off and instead turned to face her.

"Ohayou." He greeted, unsure what to say to her.

"Ohayou" She greeted back, nodding. _ "This is my chance!"_ She thought to herself.

"Uzumaki."

"Eh?"

Averting her eyes, Satsuki asked: "Did you...Did you had any...strange dreams lately?"

Eyes widening in shock, Naruto stared at the Uchiha with his mouth slightly open. But before he could answer , the classroom door slid open once again.

"Oi dobe! Why are you bothering my Satsuki-chan?!" Naruto and Satsuki turned to see Kiba at the door with his face pulled into a snarl.

"_Stupid mutt, interrupting my information gathering! And what does he mean by "HIS"?!"_ Satsuki thought, annoyed at having her conversation interrupted.

"I still haven't punished you for bumping into her last time you know!"

"_Geez, this guy sure can hold a grudge..."_ Naruto thought.

But before Kiba could "reclaim" Satsuki's "honour", Iruka appeared behind him.

"Inuzuka Kiba! What did I tell you about fighting in class? Do I need to call your mother again?"

Freezing up at the mention of his mother, Kiba reluctantly went back to his seat but not before sending a death glare at Naruto.

"Whew, saved by Iruka-sensei rock sensei!" Naruto said, praising Iruka under his breath.

**Five minutes later...**

With everyone settled down, Iruka began the lesson.

"Alright class, today we're going to be doing Taijutsu. All of you will fight in the ring at the yard in a one versus one match-up. There can be no usage of weapons or jutsu, family jutsu or otherwise. There can also be no usage of any kekkei genkais you may possess as this is a practice solely to check the progress of your Taijutsu. Anything else is fair play. Are there any questions? No? Then proceed to the ring at the Academy yard.

All the students moved quickly towards the yard, eager to start the lesson. Except for a certain lazy Nara of course. Most of the practices passed without incident. Halfway through however, certain match is about to heat up.

"Next is Uzumaki Naruto and...haah...Inuzuka Kiba."

Grinning wildly, Kiba dashed into the ring, with Naruto walking into the ring. Naruto wasn't happy with this matchup. While he had improved his physical condition under Salamander's training, he still wasn't sure if he could beat Kiba in a fair fight. Which meant that he shouldn't fight fair. Walking slowly towards the ring, Naruto started to formulate a plan.

"What's the matter dobe? Why are you walking so slowly? Scared?" Kiba sneered at Naruto.

"Nope, I just don't want to waste so much energy on the likes of you!" Naruto shot back.

Growling angrily, Kiba clenched his fist as Naruto finally got into the ring. The two of them then made a hand seal which looked like a half tiger/ram seal. It was the Tairitsu no In or the Seal of Confrontation. Sensing that both sides were ready, Iruka then shouted : "HAJIME!"

The two Academy students got into a battle ready stance as they stared down at each other. Then, Kiba started chuckling.

"Man, I sure am lucky. I get both an easy opponent and the chance to be your weak face in dobe! And this time Iruka-sensei can't stop me. Get ready to eat dirt, dobe!" With that said, Kiba charged at Naruto. He threw a left punch at Naruto's abdomen, but Naruto dodged it easily by doing a dodge roll. It was one of the nifty skills he got from dodging numerous fireballs chucked at him. Compared to the speed of the fireballs Salamander threw at him, Kiba's attacks were nothing.

"_The perks of having a sensei who can conjure and chuck fireballs at you like nobody's business I guess. _Naruto thought to himself.

Sidestepping yet another punch, Naruto decided to start going on the offensive. He threw a punch at the side of Kiba's stomach area. Caught of guard by the sudden change of tactics, Kiba tried to dodge to no avail. The punch connected and Kiba staggered backwards in pain.

"What's wrong slowpoke? Can't hit me?" Naruto taunted. If everything goes according to plan then...

"Why you...!" Snarling, Kiba charged straight at Naruto...only to have dirt thrown into his face.

**Meanwhile...**

Satsuki was paying close attention at the match taking place between Naruto and Kiba. To be honest, she was rooting for Naruto for she found Kiba to be very annoying. She could tell that he was a kind and loyal person in the inside, but he was very immature. Her opinion of him went even lower when she saw how easily he fell for Naruto's taunts.

"_What is he trying to do?"_ She wondered. But when Naruto started to shift his leg to a kicking position, Satsuki instantly realised his plan. As the dirt came into contact with Kiba's eyes, he screamed in shock.

"GAH! My eyes! Why you little...!" Ignoring Kiba's words and taking the opportunity, Naruto dashed forward and landed a punch at Kiba's left cheek. He then sent a couple more punches at his right cheek and then his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of Kiba's lungs. Naruto tried to send another punch at Kiba but this time Kiba swiped at Naruto before he could. Shocked that Kiba could still hit him, Naruto back-paddled to gain some distance from him.

"How did you...?"

"You dobe! I may not be able to see you, but I can still smell you!"

Realising the flaw in his plan, Naruto quickly tried to come up with a new idea...If only he could have enough time for it though, for Kiba charged straight towards his direction. Dodging, a easily dodged kick from the Inuzuka, Naruto noticed something. And then he smirked devilishly.

**Meanwhile...**

Hyuuga Hinata worriedly looked on as her crush dodged another blow from Kiba. She had the atmost confidence in his ability to fight, but she still can't help but worry. Kiba was from a clan that was notorious for their capabilities in Taijutsu, while Naruto had no one but himself to teach himself Taijutsu.

"EEP!" She squeaked when she saw Naruto did something that she would never expect anyone would do in a fight. Blood rushed to her face as a mild blush appeared on her face. In the past, she would have instantly fainted, but she had changed quite a bit over the past few years.

Smelling Naruto's scent coming rapidly from in front of him, Kiba dashed with his fist raised.

"I've got you now you trash!" His fist connected firmly...to Naruto's tracksuit.

"How about no?" Naruto quipped doing a leg sweep from behind Kiba, causing him to lose his balance. Falling flat on his face, Kiba grunted in shock and pain. Naruto then pinned him against the ground and put Kiba's arms behind his back in a hammerlock.

"Shousha, Uzumaki Naruto!"

With that, Iruka ended the spar. The rest of the class was shocked. The clanless, no-name class dobe had just defeated an Inuzuka , who were known for their prowess in Taijutsu, in a Taijutsu fight.

Needless to say, most of the students were expecting Naruto to lose miserably. Letting go of Kiba, Naruto stood up calmly.

"Oi, Iruka-sensei, may I have a bottle of water?"

Surprised by his request, Iruka slowly nodded and handed him one of the spare water bottles on the bench near him. Walking to slowly rising Kiba, Naruto then opened the bottle of water. Instead of drinking it however, he held it close to Kiba.

"Kiba, I'm going to wash the dirt out of your eyes so I need you to open them up for me alright?"

Stunned by this sudden act of kindness, all Kiba could do was nod and did as he told. The water pouring into his eyes swiftly cleaned away the dirt which had temporarily blinded him. Now able to see clearly, he saw Naruto in front of him, grinning jubilantly.

"So, I guess that's my win huh?" Naruto said as he extended a hand to help Kiba up. Staring at the hand in shock, Kiba asked.: "Why are you helping me? I insulted you, I mocked you, I spat at your existence!"

"Since when did I need a reason to help someone, especially when they're my future comrade?" Naruto reasoned, smilling kindly. Once again stunned into silence, Kiba tentatively accepted Naruto's help getting up. Naruto then extended his index and middle finger towards Kiba. Recognising it as part of the Wakai no In or Seal of Reconcilation, Kiba locked his fingers with Naruto's, completing the seal.

The rest of the fights were boring in comparision to Naruto's and Kiba's spar. Kiba has been staying silent the entire time, seemingly in deep thought. Satsuki didn't really care. While it did seemed that Naruto has given Kiba a lot to think about, it didn't really affect Satsuki. Rather, she was more impressed with how Naruto managed to adapt when his initial plan failed. That plan preying on Kiba's lack of sight and dependance on his sense of smell was very clever. Her own spar was extremely boring. She sparred against some random girl whose name she couldn't be bothered to remember.

**Meanwhile...**

Hinata cheered in her mind when Naruto came out victorious against Kiba. She was also happy to see how kind Naruto was to Kiba even though he said such mean things to him. Perhaps now Kiba would change for the better. However, she couldn't help but think about the words that Naruto had said.

* * *

"_Since where did I need a reason to help someone, especially when they're going to be my future comrade?"_

* * *

Those words...They seemed so...familiar...Like she heard it before...Suddenly a vision flashed by her.

* * *

"_W-w-why d-d-did y-y-y-ou h-help m-me?" The girl shyly asked._

"_Huh? Do I need a reason to help someone? The boy replied, smiling radiantly at the last part._

"_Hinata-sama?! Hinata-sama?! Where are you?" A voice rang out._

"_K-Ko!" The girl said._

"_Ah, Hinata-sama! Are you ok? You're not hurt are you?" Ko said frantically, worried for the Hyuuga heiress' safety._

"_Y-y-yes, I-I-I'm f-fine. T-this b-boy h-h-helped m-me." She assured Ko, gesturing to the boy._

"_He-He's...!" Ko thought to himself. "Hinata-sama, get away from him!"_

"_W-w-what? W-w-hy?" Hinata asked, confused but Ko's sudden outburst._

"_He's dangerous!" Ko said, cautiously watching him._

"_B-b-but h-he's i-i-injured!" She protested._

"_I don't care! Hinata-sama, let us go home now." Ko said, dragging a reluctant Hinata away from the boy._

_Later on, Ko told her: "You must not associate yourself with that boy, Hinata-sama!" _

"_What was that?"_ Hinata thought to herself.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

With classes over, Naruto headed to the training ground he and Salamander had been using for the past few days. The grass was slightly singed, evidence of dodged fireballs.

"CRACK!" Hearing a twig snap behind him, Naruto turned. To his suprise, Satsuki was standing there.

"Yo." She said nonchalantly.

"Oh, um, yo!" Naruto replied akwardly.

"So...errr, why are you here?" Naruto inquired.

"You still haven't answered my question from this morning." Satsuki replied with a straight face.

Remembering the conversation, a question popped into Naruto's head.

"Well,I HAVE been having some pretty bizarre dreams lately. Why?"

"I see..." Satsuki mused to herself.

"What were they about?"

"Huh? Why should I tell you?"

Taken aback by Naruto's reply, Satsuki paused. True, he was not obligated to answer her questions. She guessed that she was too used to having her every demand listened to.

"Another question. Why have you been talking to me so much recently? You never did so before so why now?" Naruto asked.

"Well...I guess you could say that...I'm curious." Satsuki said, looking away.

* * *

**And, CUT! Well there you have it! If you STILL haven't figured it out by now, the second girl is Hinata and yes she will be in the harem along with Satsuki. I won't give away my plans for the future just yet though. Anyway...How did you find this chapter? Like it? Hate it? And do you want me to add preview at the end of the chapter like last chapter? Let me know with a review. The next update shouldn't be very soon but that's not definite. So until next time folks!**

**P.S GUYS I STILL NEED A BETA/CO-WRITER!**


	4. Chapter 4: Round Two!

**A/N: ****Yo! Welcome back to another chapter of Infinite Possibilities. The fated conversation between Naruto and Satsuki is finally happening! You excited? Now, before we start, a few small admin issues.**

**1: I forgot to ask this but how was the fight scene last chapter? It was my first time writing out a real fight scene so I don't know how well or how badly I did. I would appreciate it if you all could comment on it and/or give me some pointers**

**2: Are you people unhappy with me focusing on Naruto's academy days and want me to do a time skip? Or do you like what I'm doing so far? Please let me know!**

**And thanks to Without Sleep for helping me out. You rock!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other songs, concepts, names etc. that appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**Normal Talking: **"I will never give up!"

**Jutsus/Techniques:** **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu!)"**

**Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuus/Summons/Mythical Creatures: **_**"Who dares summon me?!"**_

**EDIT(19/11/2015): Cleaned up a couple of errors.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Round Two!**

Naruto slashed at the training dummy, trying to memorize the techniques that Salamander taught him. In his hand was a bokken-a wooden katana. Apparently, the "business" Salamander left to settle was to get him a bokken for his training. Ever since then, Naruto has been training hard to learn as best as he can. However, his thoughts once again drifted back to a certain conversation.

* * *

_"Well...I guess you could say that...I'm curious." Satsuki said, looking away._

_"Eh? Curious? About what?" Naruto asked, confused._

_Starting to get embarrassed, Satsuki turned away and said. "N-n-never mind that! Anyway, could you just answer my question?"_

_"Huh? Well, I was having some bizarre dreams lately..."_

_"Really? About what?" Satsuki excitedly asked, eyes sparkling at the opportunity. Unfortunately, in her excitement, she got too close to Naruto and made a misstep, causing her to trip._

_"Wah!" Naruto shouted in surprise, as the two of them fell backwards into the ground. They landed in a scandalous position, with Satsuki resting her hands on Naruto's chest. They stayed like this for about a second before realizing their position. Blushing profusely, the two quickly separated and sat with their backs facing each other. A heavy, awkward silence hung in the air between them. Clearing her throat, Satsuki stood up._

_"S-s-sorry about that... I shall take my leave." She announced, still blushing. She then turned away and briskly walked away from Naruto._

* * *

_"Just what did she wanted to say I wonder?"_ Naruto thought to himself. It had already been a week since that happened. Ever since that, Satsuki had been avoiding him. A shame...He thought that they could have been friends. Meanwhile, Kiba's attitude had been changing too. He was still the same boisterous, loyal fan boy that he was. But sometimes, he seemed to be in deep thought about something. His attitude against Naruto had changed too. He no longer mocked or picked fights with Naruto. Instead, he seemed to have formed a begrudging respect for the blond Uzumaki. He still didn't exactly like him, but it was progress.

"Gah!" He shouted in surprise as a hard object hit the top of his head. Turning around, Naruto glared at the culprit.

"What was that for?" He spat.

_**"You were getting distracted, so I woke you up. Now focus!"**_Salamander shot back with a serious face. However, she was grinning internally.

_"It has been soooo long since I did that to someone. Ah, good old times..." _She thought to herself. Though honestly, while she was having fun, she couldn't have Naruto losing focus now, could she?

Grumbling, Naruto turned back to the battered training dummy. Today was a Sunday, so there were no lessons. Normally Naruto would be very happy. But now that it meant an entire day training with his dark-skinned teacher, and he absolutely dreaded it. Make no mistake, he knew he was improving quite a bit, as shown with his fight with Kiba the other day. But his body ached in protest everyday he woke up and he was sometimes deprived of sleep if he couldn't complete a task by that night.

He continued slashing at the dummy, letting some of his pent-up frustration vent on the dummy.

_**"Alright, take a break!"**_ Salamander suddenly said. Happy to get some rest, Naruto sat down next to a tree and grabbed a bottle of water. He felt the cool refreshing water quench the thirst that he built up after 2 hours of training.

_**"All right, you've been doing quite well. Now, I'm going to teach you your first real technique!"**_

"Really! Oh yeah!" Naruto jubilantly shouted, perking up at the mention of learning an ACTUAL technique, instead of just practicing katas.

_**"I'm glad to see you so enthusiastic! Now, let's begin. But beware, this training will be much tougher than what you have been doing!"**_

"I wonder what kind of-Wait, what?!"

_**"No turning back! Let's move!"**_

"Wait, just a minute! Somebody save mmmmeeeeee!" Naruto screamed as he was dragged along by Salamander.

* * *

Satsuki leapt, swiftly throwing kunai at the targets hidden around her. She threw the kunai one by one, with two of the kunais deflecting another two, making them hit the targets...Well, most of them. Two of the six kunais fell short and missed the targets. Sighing, Satsuki landed on the ground and took a break.

"Still can't do it huh? Just how far away am I from you Itachi?" She asked herself in frustration.

Heading back to the Uchiha Compound, Satsuki thought back to her conversation with Naruto.

_"Agh, how embarrassing...I can't believe I fell on top of the dobe like that!" _She thought to herself, slightly blushing when she remembered their awkward position. Even with her legions of fans, she never got into such a situation before. She didn't know what to think to be honest...

* * *

_The two kids ran across the grassy meadow as the cool night air bit into their skin._

_"Lets hurry, ok?" The girl asked the boy whose hand was clutched tightly in hers._

_"Un!"" The boy nodded._

* * *

_"W-what was that?"_ Satsuki asked herself, snapping herself out of her daze. "Was that...another lost memory?"

**(Meanwhile...)**

Hyuuga Hinata hummed to herself as she made bentos for herself and her imouto, Hanabi. She enjoyed cooking for her family immensely even though they had the Branch family to cook for them. She didn't like the system of having a Branch family and a Main family. They were all Hyuugas in the end, the same flesh and blood! Why do they need to be separated in such a cruel system? She herself, was forced into an arrangement where she had to fight Hanabi ,when they both came of age, for the right to be heiress, so it was a big matter for her as Hanabi might have to be transferred over to the Branch family if she won. She didn't want to let her precious imouto get marked with the Caged Bird Seal! But she didn't want to be marked herself…Breaking out of her dark thoughts, Hinata carefully placed the hot, fried (and oddly deformed) karage into the bento boxes, completing the boxed lunch. Now if only she could give these to her sister before she already ate. It was a rather odd coincidence that didn't really register in her mind that every time she cooked, both her father and sister were already full or said they'd have it later, but she didn't pay it any mind.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Umino Iruka sighed as he completed marking yet another piece of homework. It was honestly tiring to be a teacher, but he loved the job and he wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. He then thought of a certain surprising blond student he had. Naruto was really an enigma sometimes. No offense to Naruto, but he did not expect him to come out victorious against Kiba.

_"Since when could Naruto dodge like that?"_ He questioned himself. Taking a sip of his coffee, Iruka then went back to the seemingly never-ending pile of work to mark.

* * *

Naruto laid down on his bed as he groaned in pain. He felt like his entire body was filled with nothing more than pain, pain and more pain.

"I swear, you are a huge sadist." He said to Salamander as he glared at her. Salamander sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

_**"Well, I told you it would be tough! And besides, you're learning a new technique thanks to me!"**_

"_You didn't even let me refuse!"_

**_"Admit it, you wouldn't refuse even if I gave you the option to!"_**

"But you still should have asked!"

"_**No! Why should I waste my time when I already know the answer?!"**_

"It's called politeness!"

"_**You are in no position to lecture me boy!"**_

Their arguments went on until the two finally got tired of screaming at each other. Which took a long, long time...

**(Two days later)**

The class moved quickly as they chattered loudly. Today, the academy holding a competition to gauge the overall growth of all the students. Needless to say, majority of the students were very excited. Especially since there were prizes. Satsuki herself was a little hyped to gauge herself against the rest of the school. But the one she wanted to fight the most was a certain blond haired enigma...who was nowhere to be seen!

_"You better show up soon dobe..."_She thought angrily to herself. She honestly wanted to test the blond Uzumaki's newly revealed strength, especially after the debacle with Kiba. Speaking of the Inuzuka, Kiba seemed to be very excited. He had a unfamiliar fire in his eyes which he had not shown before. And Satsuki could guess that the reason for that was the same as hers.

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Ah mou! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'M LATE!" Naruto screamed as he ran down the street. He had lost track of time while he was having his morning training with Salamander. Because of that, he was still dressed in a simple black t-shirt and black track pants. His bokken was still in his hands as he ran like a mad-man towards the academy. His aching body protested against his rushing, but he did not want to miss the competition. He seriously wanted to see how much he has improved over the past month with Salamander. As the academy building started to get closer, Naruto saw that a fence was obstructing him between him and the venue. He saw most of the students gathered, but none of them has noticed him. Which was weird, considering the giant dust cloud that has gathered behind him. Noticing that the event was starting, Naruto did a last-ditch attempt to reach the venue.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Hinata was starting to get worried. Naruto was still absent and the competition was starting soon. She knew that Naruto would not want to miss such an event so she was worried that something may have happened to him. Suddenly, she noticed a dust cloud rapidly approached the academy. Wondering what was happening, she got a little closer to the fence between the giant mass of dust and the academy. She squinted her pale eyes and saw a male figure inside the dust cloud.

"Eep!" She squeaked when the figure jumped up over the fence.

"I'VE MADE IT!" A familiar voice shouted as he landed firmly on the ground, sending dust all over the place. As the dust cleared, a gentle smile wormed its way onto her face as she realized who was the figure she saw.

"Always showing off huh?" Satsuki muttered to herself as she smirked. The blond idiot was finally here. That only made her all the more excited to fight him. Anticipating the fight, Satsuki started to formulate plans against what she had observed from Naruto during his fight against Kiba.

"Hah...Hah..." Naruto panted heavily, trying to catch his breath after his stunt. Looking up, he noticed that he had gathered the attention of nearly every human in the vicinity. He got disapproving glares and stares from some of the teachers and students, as well as the parents who have came to cheer their children on. Ignoring them, Naruto spotted Iruka approaching him.

"You just had to do that didn't you Naruto?" Iruka sighed.

"Eheheh...Well, I got too caught up in my training for this competition and lost track of time. But now I'm here, ready for action!" Naruto said sheepishly.

"Try to pay more attention next time alright?" Iruka chided.

"Hai, Iruka-Sensei!" Naruto then left to join the crowd.

* * *

Nakamura Sasaki, the academy headmaster, stepped up behind the podium to start the event. He held this event annually, so he was more than used to addressing large amounts of people. He saw the antics of one Uzumaki Naruto and he honestly was laughing inside. He held no resentment against the young Uzumaki and enjoyed watching his antics as they brightened up the usual dull, mundane life of signing and sorting paperwork. As he addressed the students, he kept his eyes on the most interesting students. There was Hyuuga Neji, a Branch family member. However, he showed immense potential despite being not being born in the Main family. He could easily be called a prodigy. Next was the last Uchiha. Uchiha Satsuki was another example of a young prodigy. She showed all the usual traits of the Uchiha's talents, but he honestly felt that she was overhyped. While she did show a lot of potential as well, her esteemed status was not well earned. And finally, there was Uzumaki Naruto. The blond Uzumaki had showed surprising intellect and knowledge of tactics during his fight with Kiba. He had shown speed that he had not exhibited before and had easily dodged the Inuzuka's attacks.

"And with that, I am happy to start this year's annual competition!" Nakamura said, ending his speech on a high note.

The students were randomly grouped in gauntlet style one versus one matches. The opponents would be showed on a screen on the main academy building. The students fought hardly against each other. Finally, it was Naruto's turn. He watched intently as the screen flashed through random students. He didn't know if it was some trick or it was fate, but the screen stopped and revealed his first opponent. Inuzuka Kiba.

The two boys proceeded to the arena, and stared at each other.

"I've been looking forward to this Uzumaki...I want-no I need to know." Kiba said, breaking the silence.

"Know? Know what?" Naruto questioned, confused by Kiba's sudden words.

But before Kiba could answer, Iruka arrived at the referee's part of the arena.

"Now, I know the two of you probably know the rules, but I will explain them again for the sake of clarification. As this is a match to view your growth, anything except killing goes. Weapons and Jutsus are allowed and you can use any techniques at your disposal. Are you two clear?"

Nodding, the boys started to get into their ready stances, making the Seal of Confrontation as they did so. Akamaru stood beside Kiba, ready to fight.

"HAJIME!"

"Akamaru, could you please stay here?" Kiba suddenly asked. Surprised by his request, Akamaru tilted his head in confusion.

"Please. I need to do this..." Starting to understand Kiba's emotions, Akamaru backed off and sat patiently.

"Why did you ask Akamaru to stay there? You do know that anything goes right?" Naruto asked confused.

"I need to fight you one on one Naruto!" Kiba suddenly shouted. "I need to know if you winning last time was just a fluke!"

Eyes widening, Naruto slowly nodded and readied himself.

"Then, I'm not going to hold back!" Naruto replied. Smirking, Kiba readied himself as well. Dashing forward, Kiba swiped at Naruto's flank, trying to get a pre-emptive strike in. However, Naruto dodged before it could come close to hitting him.

_"He has gotten faster!"_ Naruto thought to himself.

_"How can I beat his speed?"_ Kiba thought, dodging a kick from the left. He then feinted left, before kicking at Naruto. Naruto blocked the kick with forearm and lashed out at Kiba with a punch at his solar plexus. Unable to dodge in time, Kiba staggered back from the blow, wheezing.

_"Just like last time!"_ Kiba spitefully thought. Gaining back control over his breathing, Kiba once again dashed at Naruto. This time however, he ran in a curved path until he was behind Naruto. He then lunged forward with his elongated nails stretched out. He swiped at Naruto intending to cut him. Realising the impending danger, Naruto swiftly brought his bokken up and blocked Kiba's hand.

_"Tch, I forgot about his bokken!"_

Kiba back-paddled and dodged a slash from Naruto's weapon. Now on the offensive, Naruto kept the pressure on Kiba by continuing to slash rapidly at Kiba. He feinted right and then jabbed at Kiba's gut. The dull wooden blade did not pierce the Inuzuka's flesh, but Kiba's gut hurt regardless from the jab. Not letting up, Naruto then followed up with a kick to Kiba's chest. Kiba staggered backwards from the blow, recovering in time to narrowly crouch under a fist to his face. Kiba leapt forward, landing a solid hit on Naruto. Pressing his advantage, Kiba then proceeded to swipe at Naruto's chest. The attack connected before Naruto could recover, making shallow scratches on his body. Kiba tried to cut Naruto again, but this time Naruto was ready. Naruto ducked down and landed a hard blow on Kiba's midsection with his bokken. He then did a leg sweep which made Kiba fall to the floor. Naruto quickly locked Kiba's arm behind once more in a hammerlock.

_"For me to be defeat by the same move twice...How weak."_ Kiba thought to himself reproachfully. Having lost, Kiba stopped resisting.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Letting go of Kiba, Naruto couldn't believe that he won with the exact same finish. He offered his hand to Kiba, to which Kiba hesitantly accepted. The two then made the Seal of Reconciliation as per tradition.

"Looks like it wasn't a fluke at all huh?" Kiba muttered to himself.

"Eh? What did you say?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It was nothing." Kiba replied with an amused smirk.

"Listen dobe, now that you beat me, you better get even more stronger from now on! I'm gonna train hard and one day, I'm gonna beat you, you hear me dobe?" Kiba suddenly declared as he walked away. He angled his head slightly backwards and gave Naruto an arrogant smirk.

"Cause when we have our rematch, I'm gonna beat you hands down!" Hearing him, Naruto just smiled.

* * *

Inuzuka Tsume watched as her son walked back towards the crowd. When she initially heard that her son had lost to Uzumaki Naruto, Tsume was honestly shocked. But now that she has seen Naruto in action, she could understand why Kiba lost.

_"Looks like your kid is going to have a bright future ahead of him huh Kushina?" _She thought to herself. She didn't mind seeing Kiba get beaten. No, it would be better if he did. It would let him learn from his mistakes and become a better man. She knew that something had already changed within her son, but she could only wait and she how he would improve himself. As a mother, all she can do is to guide him along and be there for him...

**(Meanwhile...)**

The next few battles went past quickly. Naruto fought against some other students but they did not put up as much of a fight as Kiba did. The competition slowly whittled down in his gauntlet and soon he saw the only opponent left.

Satsuki smiled when she saw that only one other contestant was left. Finally, she could see just how strong he could be. And maybe, just maybe, fighting him may trigger some memories. With that hope in mind, Satsuki proceeded to the arena.

It was time to fight Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

**Don't really have much to say this chapter. Please review to tell me whether you liked this chapter or hated it.( Saying why of course)And how was the fight scene? I look forward to your responses. And by the way, I would appreciate it if you guys and gals could help advertise my fanfiction. You don't have to do it, but it would really help me. See you people next time!**


	5. Chapter 5:Uzumaki vs Uchiha

**A/N: ~We are Singapore, We are Singapore. We will stand together, hear the lion roar~**

**Hello and welcome back. It is my country's 49****th**** birthday! While I may not have experienced much of the hardships that Singapore has went through, I still feel proud to be born in this lovely country.**

**Enough about that though. As a small spoiler, I will be saying this: After this competition, it is very likely that there will be a time-skip. I am worried that you guys may be bored with me focusing on Naruto's Academy days. Thus, I will start getting into the main story of the Naruto universe. I will be mainly sticking to canon with changes here and there, big and small. Of course, if you strongly oppose this decision, then leave a review detailing why I should not do a time-skip (yet). I will be having some interactions between Naruto and other characters before the time-skip though. Whether or not these interactions will majorly impact Naruto will be shown later.**

**My viewer count has been gradually decreasing though. Guess I'm not really doing a good job huh? Oh well…**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**Normal talking: **"I will never give up!"

**Jutsus: "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu!)"**

**Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuu/Summons: _"Who dares to summon me?!"_**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Uzumaki vs Uchiha**

Naruto calmly stared across the arena at his opponent. Uchiha Satsuki, who was strangely enthusiastic, stared back at him. Naruto went through what he had observed from the Uchiha heiress during classes as well as her battle with her previous opponent, who was apparently Aburame Shino.

The Uchiha's unique Taijutsu style,the **Setsuju-Ryuu (Intercepting Fist)**was famous for not being a very offensive style. Rather, it was mainly based on predicting the opponent moves and countering them. Truly, it was a style befitting the Uchiha, who had the Sharingan to compliment this style. However, to his knowledge, Satsuki has not awakened her Sharingan yet. Therefore, her **Intercepting Fist's **usefulness would be severely decreased.

With that in mind, Naruto thought over his game plan as he ignored Iruka, who was droning on about the rules again. Naruto was honestly starting to get pumped. He wanted to test his strength against the Uchiha, especially since he was the village pariah. If the village pariah could beat the village paragon, then maybe he could get the recognition and attention that he desired. With that goal set in mind, Naruto then noticed that Iruka has finished talking about the rules. Making the Seal of Confrontation, Naruto then readied his bokken. Hopefully, he would be able to pull **that** technique off…

Satsuki got into the starting stance of the **Setsuju-Ryuu**. She had greatly anticipated this battle. Smirking, Satsuki went over what knowledge she had gleamed from his fights with the other students. She knew that he had an unpredictable fighting style. He seemed to be able to think quickly and improvise no matter the situation. In a sense, she found that admirable.

"_That quick thinking might cause some problems though…"_ She thought to herself. And there was that wooden sword of his too. She did not expect to see that the unruly blonde would try and learn something as graceful as Kenjutsu. To say that she was shocked when he came with a bokken would be a severe understatement. While he has not shown any skill with it so far, it would not be too far-fetched to say that he was at least capable of using it in combat. After all, he brought it to a competition didn't he?

"HAJIME!" Iruka shouted, signalling the start of the battle.

Naruto dashed forward first, bokken in hand. He slashed horizontally from the left, aiming for Satsuki's abdomen. She ducked down under the slash, the wooden katana barely grazing her hair. She then countered with a leg sweep. Naruto did a backflip, dodging the leg sweep and putting some distance between them. Naruto then lunged forward with his bokken outstretched in front of him. Satsuki angled her body to the left, dodging the lunge. She kicked upwards at Naruto's arms, aiming to disarm him. Naruto got hit, but he managed to keep a firm grasp on his weapon. Recovering from the blow, Naruto lashed out with a quick jab at her face. Satsuki again ducked down under the punch, but this time Naruto was prepared. Naruto quickly followed up with a kick. Caught off guard, Satsuki fell backwards from the blow. Not relenting, Naruto slashed down at Satsuki. However, she recovered swiftly and threw a kunai at him. Surprised, Naruto jumped to the right. The kunai lightly grazed the side of his arm, causing a shallow cut. No blood came out, but it stung slightly. Naruto threw a couple of shuriken at the Uchiha girl, but she dodged them.

"_He's pretty good…But I won't lose to someone like him!"_ Satsuki thought to herself as she redirected a punch from the Uzumaki, causing it to only hit the air to her left. She then jabbed at his solar plexus in hopes of incapacitating him for a while. Naruto blocked it with his bokken, causing her to feel mild pain going through her fist.

"_I can't seem to hit him!"_ Satsuki thought, growling in frustration. The **Setsuju-Ryuu **was a style meant for reacting and countering the opponent's moves. However, Naruto was able to keep up with her speed and react as quickly as she did. Maybe even faster, for he seemed to be slowly getting swifter in reacting to her attacks.

She dodged a kick to her abdomen as she tried to think of a plan.

**(Meanwhile…)**

Hinata watched on at the fight between her crush and the Uchiha heiress. While she trusted that Naruto could handle himself in battle, like he showed in his bout with Kiba, Satsuki was on a whole other level compared to the Inuzuka boy. If she was as good as what the civilians thought her to be, then Naruto might be in trouble… Speaking of the civilians, they were currently cheering loudly for the Uchiha heiress while jeering at Naruto. She was starting to get slightly irritated at their behavior. She could only wonder why Naruto drew in such hate from the villagers.

Meanwhile the ninjas whose children were participating in this event were watching the battle with mixed reactions. Some seemed surprised that Naruto was able to not only keep up with Satsuki, but effectively counter her moves. Others were jeering at the village pariah as he, in their eyes, feebly struggled against the Uchiha heiress. Another portion of people were keenly observing the two Academy students, calmly analyzing their every move. And then there were the clan heads, whose reactions varied a lot as well.

Nara Shikamaru watched his father, Nara Shikaku, with bored eyes as he alternated between watching the fight and observing his father. He honestly would have preferred to sleep through the fight, but considering the fact that his mother was behind him with a pan ready for immediate smacking, that option was closed off to him for the time being.

"_Troublesome woman…"_

Eyes drifting back to the fight, Shikamaru watched as Naruto slashed downwards at Satsuki, forcing her to block with her forearm. His thoughts drifted to the loud blond. While he felt that Naruto was an extremely troublesome person, he knew that Naruto was a decent person. He used to play pranks, some of which he was a victim in, but Shikamaru could clearly see the kindness that shone in his personality. His scene with Kiba a few days ago only provided further evidence to that. He was mildly shocked at Naruto's surprising aptitude in combat though. The blond had shown decent understanding of tactics, which was unexpected of the loud, boisterous boy. His father seemed to think so too, seeing as Shikaku was attentively watching the fight. That or he was sleeping with his eyes open again. He really needed to ask him how to do that!

However, Shikaku was very much awake at the moment. He observed the blond Uzumaki as he dodged another kunai, courtesy of Satsuki. The boy seemed to have inherited his parents' natural prowess in battle. He was obviously able to think on his feet, which was an invaluable trait for a shinobi. He turned his head slightly to the left and looked at his long-time friends, Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chouza. Inoichi was standing next to his daughter Ino and her friend Sakura. He seemed to be intrigued by Naruto's performance against Satsuki. His face was one of curiosity as he observed the battle, no doubt considering whether or not Naruto would be a good friend for his precious daughter. Meanwhile Chouza seemed to be enjoying the show, judging from his jovial grin. He chatted loudly with his son Chouji, who was Shikamaru's best friend. Chouza was probably cheering the Uzumaki boy on. They were all close friends with his parents after all.

Shikaku then turned his head right and observed Inuzuka Tsume and Aburame Shibi, who were standing next to their respective children. Tsume had an impressed look on her face, grinning wildly at the battle before her. Shibi on the other hand was…well Shikaku couldn't exactly see Shibi's expression, but he seems to be interested. Just what was he thinking in that mind of his was anybody's guess though.

Turning back his attention to the fight, Shikaku's eyes widened slightly when he saw Satsuki's hands forming hand seals.

"_I'm starting to get exhausted…How can the dobe last so long?" _Satsuki thought as her sweat dripped down her face. While she had not been using a lot of chakra, the physical exertion alone was starting to wear down on her. She growled in frustration as she looked at the blond Uzumaki. Although he had been fighting as long as she had, he barely looked tired. He was merely breathing slightly heavily and sweating a bit. It was infuriating to see that the dobe seemed to be doing better than her.

"Not bad dobe…I guess I'll have to use my trump card then!" She said arrogantly. She had more than enough chakra to use **that** and she would be toning it down so that it wouldn't kill Naruto anyway, so it should be ok.

"_Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger!"_ She recited, forming the hand seals swiftly. Well, swift for an Academy student.

"_**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)!"**_She shouted, inhaling sharply and then expelling the chakra-turned-fire from her mouth. The flames flew out as a large fireball, around the size of her body. The orb of roaring flames surged towards Naruto, whose shock at the use of the C-Ranked Jutsu had kept him grounded. The fireball impacted the ground, sending dirt and smoke flying at all directions.

Satsuki smirked when she saw the jutsu connect. Naruto shouldn't be able to fight after that hit. Meanwhile, the crowd at the side-lines roared in approval at Satsuki's victory. The civilians were mainly cheering at the possibility that the "demon brat" may have been burned alive from the fireball. Satsuki's fans just cheered for the sake of their idol.

"It was a satisfying fight, but it seems I won dobe!" Satsuki triumphantly declared, sure of her victory.

However, when she felt a kick to her back, she knew that it wasn't over yet. She recovered in time to avoid crashing into the ground, instead rolling into a crouch. She looked to the side where the _**Gōkakyū no Jutsu **_had impacted…and saw a charred log.

"_Tch, the __**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu)!"**_ She thought, unbelieving that she had forgotten about that jutsu. She stood up and glared at Naruto. He wasn't even a little bit charred! Angrily, Satsuki threw two kunais at him, both of which were deflected away by his bokken.

"Well since you were so "_kind_" to use that jutsu on me, let me return the favor with a technique I've been working on!" Naruto declared as he pulled back his hand that was holding his bokken.

"Technique?" Satsuki muttered curiously under her breath. "Just what does the dobe have up his sleeves?"

Suddenly, Naruto appeared next to her with his bokken readied.

"_F-fast!"_ Satsuki thought in surprise.

"_**Raitei Suiryoku (Thunder Thrust)!"**_Naruto shouted as he struck at Satsuki's solar plexus. Unable to dodge, Satsuki felt the air in her lungs exit her body as she folded like a lawn chair. She fell backwards as she gasped for air.

"J-just, h-how did you-?" She gasped out, shocked at how fast he managed to hit her.

"I told you, I've been training." _"A lot…"_ He secretly added to himself.

* * *

Salamander was casually watched the fight from afar. It seems that Naruto's training under her had paid off. It made her slightly wistful. How long had it been since her last student?

"-let me return the favour with a technique I've been working on!"

"_**So…he's going to use THAT technique huh?"**_ Salamander thought. He had learnt it on only the first day, which had shocked her to say the least. The rest of the days were used to refine it.

**(A few days ago…)**

"Yatta! I got it!" Naruto jubilantly shouted as he successfully completed the technique.

"_**Impressive…"**_ Salamander said, slightly surprised. She honestly had expected him to take at least a few more days to learn it.

"What is this techniques called anyway?" Naruto asked curiously.

"_**This technique is known as the **__**Chidarake Kiretsu Raitei Suiryoku (Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust).**_

"Wha-Why is the name so gruesome?!" Naruto shouted out in shock.

"_**I didn't name it alright? Anyways, contrary to its name, it does not have a lightning attribute. Rather, its name comes from the speed in which is needed to fully utilize this technique. It is a high-speed attack that involves lunging at the enemy. As for its name, it came from a legend."**_

"A legend?"

"_**Yup. It's said that the cursed swordswoman, Chi no Akari, mastered this technique, and covered the battlefield with her bloody thrusts. Using this Blood Fissure Thunder Thrust technique, she killed her enemies one after another, making a lake of blood."**_

"Uwah…Such a bloody legend…And that Bloody Fissure part is just so shady sounding and bloody, so I think I'll just shorten it to Thunder Thrust…" Naruto said, slightly disturbed by the gruesome history of his new technique.

* * *

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka shouted, declaring Naruto's victory. It seems that his surrogate little brother has done some growing up.

"_I'm proud of you Naruto."_ He thought with a smile. However, his declaration seems to have drawn the ire and disapproval of many civilians, judging from the cries of outrage from them as well as from the Uchiha idol's fans. Their protests ranged from claims that Naruto cheated and outrageous demands to "kill the demon brat". Intervention from the multiple clan heads and Jōnin had swiftly silenced the possible uprising though.

Naruto extended a hand to Satsuki as he grinned.

"Looks like this is MY win huh, Satsuki-chan?"

"Don't call me "-chan"!" She spat out, blushing slightly. Yes, her fans called her "-chan" on a daily basis, but they were just empty words.

"Why can't I? It kinda sounds nice with you." Naruto replied, still smiling.

"W-wha-I-I…S-shut u-up! B-Baka!" She spluttered out, her face getting slightly redder. She could tell that he was actually being honest. Years of getting meaningless praise tends to make one able to pick real compliments out. Blushing even more, Satsuki hesitantly accepted Naruto's hand in getting up.

**(An hour later…)**

After the mini winning ceremonies were over, Naruto went to the headmaster's office to claim his prize. When he got there, he saw Satsuki waiting together with a boy with dark, bushy, brown hair which was covered by a hood. From the little portions of his skin that he could see, he could observe that the boy had fair skin which was mostly obscured by a light grey jacket. His eyes were also covered by a pair of shades.

"Yo, Satsuki-chan! You too, Shino!" Naruto said. The now identified Shino silently nodded in greeting, while Satsuki blushed at him calling her "-chan" and turned away.

"Ah…The three of you are here! Please, do come in." The headmaster said, opening the door. The three students entered. The office was sparsely decorated, with cabinets at each side of the room. His table was placed firmly and the middle of the back of the room.

**(A while afterwards…)**

The prize receiving was pretty uneventful. The headmaster just said a few compliments to each of them, gave them their prizes and sent them on their ways. He didn't know what Shino and Satsuki got, as the prizes were sealed into scrolls. He opened his as soon as he got out. He was severely disappointed. The prize only consisted of 1000 ryo (for reference: 1 ryo=10 yen. 10 yen is about 1 U.S.D) and a set of training weights. The weights might help in his training and the money would help pay for his supplies, but he had expected his reward to be something more…rewarding.

Sighing, Naruto suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw his classmate Akimichi Chouji. He and Chouji weren't very close, just normal, friendly classmates.

"Hey, good job Naruto! My dad wants to invite you a celebratory dinner!" Chouji said, grinning.

"Eh? R-really?" Naruto asked, surprised at the sudden invitation. He had never gotten something like this before, so he was unused to invitations.

"Yup! C'mon, or the food will get cold!" Chouji said as he dragged the still surprised Naruto off to his family's restaurant.

**(Later...)**

Naruto was now seated at a table inside the Akimichi owned restaurant, Yakiniku-Q. He had heard about the high reputation the place had, but he never tried going in. Seated beside him were Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino. Chouji sat across him and they were accompanied by their parents Shikaku, Inoichi and Chouza. They were talking over their food when suddenly, Shikaku started to ask Naruto some questions.

"So Naruto...Who taught you how to use something like that?"

"Eh? W-what do you mean?" Naruto asked, getting slightly nervous at the sudden question.

"No offense, but you couldn't have possibly create a technique like that. So who taught you?" Shikaku asked again, eyes narrowing slightly. The rest of the people at the table now had their attention turned to Naruto. All of them wanted to hear his answer too.

"Uh...I...uh..." Naruto stuttered, getting even more nervous now that everyone's attention was on him. He didn't know whether or not to tell the truth. What could he say? Oh I found a naked girl with fire for hair knocked out in some forest and I nursed her back to health! Now she teaches me by throwing fireballs at me! Oh, and did I mention she's apparently thousands of years old?

_"Yeah...that'll work well." _He thought sarcastically. Deciding to tell a half-truth, Naruto thought out his answer.

"My shishou, taught me how to use the **Raitei Suiryoku**. I found her collapsed in a forest and I helped her. As thanks, she now teaches me." He replied. Shikaku's eyes narrowed even more, before he backed off and changed the topic of the conversation.

* * *

Sighing, Naruto plopped down on his bed. After his close shave with Shikaku, he didn't know what to think. For all he knew, Shikaku was reporting to the Hokage right now...Naruto didn't know just how right he was.

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Do you think he was lying Shikaku?" Sarutobi asked tiredly.

"He was definitely hiding something Hokage-sama...There was some semblance of truth in his story, but I don't exactly know what he was hiding." Shikaku replied as he crossed his arms.

"Do you think it could be the Kyuubi?" Inoichi asked worriedly.

"I don't think it is. He doesn't seem to be under its influence. The kid seems like a good boy, and I want to trust him." Chouza replied.

"Me too, Chouza. But we must consider the possibility that the Kyuubi is at least in contact with Naruto." Sarutobi said. "For now, have people observe him. If he shows signs of being under the Kyuubi's influence, then we need to reinforce the seal."

Nodding, the three clan heads ended their report and exited the office. Sarutobi took out his pipe and lit it up with a quick fire jutsu. He exhaled, the thick smoke billowing out of his mouth.

_"It looks like I might need to get him over here soon."_ He thought. He was starting to get concerned about that seal breaking. If it does...may Kami save them all...

* * *

Satsuki sighed, disappointed at herself for losing to Naruto. She couldn't believe that she lost to the dobe like that. It might not be appropriate to call him dobe anymore though...Remembering her prize, she took out her prize scroll and opened it. She channeled some chakra into it and in a puff of white smoke her prize came out. What she saw shocked her to her core...

**(Meanwhile...)**

Nakamura Sasaki, the academy headmaster, was sorting through the academy's documents when his hand brushed up against a scroll. Curious, he picked it up and was shocked to see that it was the scroll that contained Uchiha Satsuki's prize. Meaning that he had given her the wrong scroll. But before he could do anything about it, he was face flat on his table and losing consciousness.

"Don't worry, you won't die. You'll just take a little nap. Tomorrow, you'll remember nothing about this night and then everyone's happy! Nighty-night!" That was the last thing he heard before his world faded to black.

* * *

Satsuki was pacing up and down her room, her mind and heart racing, thinking about what could this all mean. She looked at the object clutched in her hands. It was no simple prize...It was a lucky charm. It was star-shaped and was made out of green stained glass with a silver frame, and had brown stitches and a brown cord tied to the topmost part...Exactly like the one from her dreams...

* * *

**A/N: So how was that? Did you like the little suspense I put in? Did I meet expectations with this fight? Or this chapter as a whole? Let me know what y'all think with a review! See you all next time.**


	6. Chapter 6:Clearer

**A/N: Helloo~ Here's another chapter! But first, I going to reply to some reviews. **

**andrejasontiemie: Thanks for the advice. I will take your words into account.**

**Bright Idea 0127: 'Bout damn time someone recognised Salamander...**

**ddreamer9159: I'm glad that my story is good enough to interest you.**

**Jhawk046: I guess that would be a good idea huh? I am trying to aim for 1 update per week though. But don't quote me on that.**

**Guest who is unhappy with Satsuki's tsundere: Well, if you don't like how I am portraying Satsuki, then you are more then welcome to leave. And besides, dark hair tied in twin tails? Being the school idol? That's the perfect Tohsaka-type tsundere set-up! How could I resist? I even foreshadowed it in Chapter 1 y'know!**

**Renegadestarforce: Yes, yes it did. MUHAHAHAH!**

**Now, I apologize for the wait. However, the next chapter might be a bit far off as I have exams coming up soon.**

**Finally, I would like to solemnly say this: R.I.P Robin Williams/ Genie from Aladdin. You will be dearly missed.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**Normal talking:** "I will never give up!"

**Jutsus: **"Kage Bunshin no Justu! (Shadow Clone Justu!)"

**Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuu/Summons: **_**"Who dares to summon me?!"**_

* * *

**Chapter 7: Clearer**

**(Naruto's POV)**

"_Oi! Over here!" A voice rang out in the distance. Who was that? I opened my eyes and saw myself in a grassy field. Two figures were waving at me in the distance. As my body moved closer and closer to them, I started to recognise them._

"_T-the girls from my dreams!" I thought to myself in shock. Indeed, they were the same two girls who haunted my dreams. However, their features seemed to be more...clearer this time. I could see defining features on the both of them which weren't present in my previous dreams. One girl seemed to have straight, black hair which was tied in twin tails. The other had short, dark blue hair in a s__hort, levelled hime-cut style just above her forehead, with chin-length strands framing her face. _

_Uwah...They seem so familiar. But I just can't seem to remember their names! _

"_Mou...Hurry up!" The black haired girl shouted impatiently. _

"_Alright, alright..." I shouted back, but not of my own accord. The words just flowed out of my mouth. I couldn't speak, nor could I move my body. My body moved automatically towards the two girls._

"_Why are you so slow, baka?" The black haired girl grumbled, crossing her arms. The blue haired girl just giggled to herself. _

"_Well, let's go!" The black haired girl said, grabbing my hand._

* * *

Yawning, Naruto slowly got up and rubbed his eyes.

"And yet another one...Why do I keep having these dreams?" He asked himself, slightly frustrated.

"The dreams seem to be getting clearing though..." He mused. He could definitely remember some of their features, though the whole image was still blurry. Deciding not to dwell on it, Naruto started to get ready for his morning training.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Groaning, Satsuki rolled in her bed. She had spent the entire last night pacing up and down her room, pondering what could the object clapsed tightly in her hands could mean. She didn't know what to make of the situation. On one hand, this means that her dreams weren't mere dreams. But on the other hand, there HAD to be a reason why she didn't have any memory of those times. And then there was that burning village too...

Too tired to think over it anymore, Satsuki closed her eyes and started to fall alseep.

"_Thankfully it is Sunday today..." _She thought to herself just before sleep claimed her.

* * *

_Burning buildings. The smell of death. Screams of despair. Those were the things she woke up to. Groggily, she started to get up. Then, she saw-_

* * *

Jolting awake, Hinata breathed heavily. "W-what was with that dream?" She whispered to herself, without stuttering. No surprise, considering the fact that there was nothing for her to be nervous about. Calming herself down, she silently thought over what she had saw in her dream.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Gasping heavily for oxygen, Naruto leaned against a nearby tree. His entire body felt sore and tired.

He had been training for more than an hour straight, which may not sound like much to the average ninja, but when your teacher was a spirit that could chuck fireballs endlessly, it tends to exhaust one quickly. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't even a shinobi yet anyway...

_**"Seriously, can't you last longer than this? At this rate you're not going anywhere!" **_Salamander chided.

"Shut up! It's not like YOU'RE the one being blasted with fireballs!" Naruto retorted.

"...Actually, I think you would enjoy that wouldn't you?" He wryly added.

"_**Yeah, yeah."**_ She waved off his words off. **"I guess we can stop here for today then. Go get some rest."** She said as she turned away and walked off.

"Gah, one of these days..." Naruto grumbled childishly to himself.

**(A few minutes later)**

Now slightly rested, Naruto decided to go over to Ichiraku's for an early lunch. When he approached the ramen restaurant, he saw someone he would never expect to be anywhere around his favourite eatery.

**(A few minutes earlier)**

Uchiha Satsuki was tired. There was no doubt about that. However, whenever she fell asleep, she would be plagued by various dreams. Some were about her previous lose to a certain blond. Others were more assorted dreams. Or were they memories? She didn't know and it honestly grated on her nerves. She blushed slighly when she remembered a certain one.

* * *

_Satsuki snuggled sleepily deeper into the warmth that she felt beside her. It had been a long time since she had felt such warmth this close to her. Come to think of it, the last time was the day before her family was slaughtered._

"_Wait...But that would mean that there shouldn't be anyone else in the house." She thought to herself in alarm. Snapping her eyes open, she was shocked to see a blond boy sleeping next to her. _

"_KYA!" She screamed as she jumped out of the bed. Her sudden scream woke Naruto from his slumber._

"_You despicable, filthy, dumb pervert! What are you doing in my bed?!" She shouted. Or at least, she felt herself shout. The words just flowed out of her mouth and her body moved on its own accord._

"_What are you talking about? This isn't even your room!" She heard Naruto shout back. _

"_Liar! You are just lying!" _

"_I'm not! Just take a look around!"_

_She then hesitantly looked around and realized that he was right. This was not, in the slightiest sense, her room. The style of the room indicated that it was her house, but the room was practically empty except for a dresser and the bed she was lying on a few moments earlier. She felt her cheeks heat up as she remembered something. _

"_Oh yeah...This is the room I let you move into..." She said sheepishly, as her hand rubbed the back of her head._

* * *

The dream had ended there, but it left a lot for Satsuki think about.

"_I can't believe I dreamt something like that!"_ She thought to herself, blush intensifying slightly. _"There's no way I would let someone like Naruto into my house!...But I wonder what it would be like if he were living with me? I mean, it would be nice to have some else in the house so that it wouldn't be so lonely...And since he's wants to be a ninja too, I would be able to train with him..."_ Realising what she was thinking, Satsuki shook her head violently, trying to rid her mind of those thoughts.

"Gah, what am I thinking?! The lack of sleep must be getting to me...Yeah that's it! It's not like I want him to move in with me! It's just that my mind is too muddled due to lack of sleep!" She justified to no one on particular. Well, other than herself that is. Deciding to take a walk to clear her head, she got dressed and went out.

She aimlessly walked down the streets, trying futilely to remove any thoughts about Naruto moving in with her. She politely replied to the multiple greetings that the villagers gave her. She has long since learnt that it would be in her best interests to reply to such greetings. Once, when she didn't reply to a villager's greeting, he raised a ruckus about how he had "offended Uchiha-sama" and that he had "commited a grave sin". He then proceeded to try and commited seppuku in the middle of the road. She shivered when she remembered the incident. It had taken 10 _Chūnins and three Akimichis to subdue the man. Civilains could be absurdly strong and determined sometimes..._

_She then realized that she had stopped outside a restaurant. Looking up at the sign displayed proudly at the front, she read the name of the restaurant aloud._

"Ramen Ichiraku?" She mused. The name seemed to be familiar...But she knew that she has never tasted ramen before, let alone eat at this place. Slightly curious, she stared at the entrance, considering whether she should go in.

"Oi, Satsuki-chan!" A voice called out, drawing not only her attention, but the attention of the nearby villagers when they heard the Uchiha heiress's name being called out so informally.

"Don't call me that!" She reflexively shouted back. She turned and saw Naruto walking towards her.

"Why are you just standing like that?" He asked, head tilting to the side. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Naruto tapped his fist on his right palm.

"Ah, I know! You're here to eat Teuchi-ossan's ramen right? C'mon, I let me recommend some to you!" He (somewhat correctly) concluded. He then grabbed Satsuki's hand and began to lead her into the small restaurant. Caught off guard, Satsuki could do nothing but be dragged into the restaurant. She felt her cheeks heat up slightly due to the sudden skin contact.

"Yo, Ossan!" Naruto boisterously greeted, hand still holding Satsuki's.

"Oh, Naruto! What will you be having today?" Teuchi greeted back. He then noticed someone next to his number one customer. His eyes then widened slightly, before softening.

"Oh? Looks like you've brought someone with you this time eh, Naruto? And the Uchiha heiress no less!" Teuchi said. _"I didn't expect him to ever bring her here ever again...But where's the other one?" _He thought.

He saw his daughter peep out from behind the kitchen and saw that she had the same reaction as him.

"Hey, Naruto! 'Bout time you visited!" Ayame said. "And you're Uchiha Satsuki-san right?"

Satsuki nodded, still slightly dazed. She then realized that her hand was still firmly clasped by Naruto's.

"L-let go of me already, dobe!" She said, mildly blushing out of embarrasment. Finally noticing what he was holding in his hands, Naruto swiftly let go of her hand.

"Oh! Sorry about that..." He apologized sheepishly.

"W-whatever! Just don't do it again,baka!" She replied, turning away from him. She then noticed Teuchi and Ayame giving her peculiar looks. Realizing what they were thinking, her blush intensified.

"W-what are you looking at!" She shouted at them, embarrasment increasing by the second.

"Nothing~" The father-daughter pair replied in a sing-song voice. Getting irritated, Satsuki stomped off to one of the seats and decided to occupy herself with the menu. Meanwhile, Naruto just stood confused at her behaviour. Shrugging, Naruto moved over to the seat next to her's.

"Let's see...I think I'll start with a Chicken Karaage, Teuchi-ossan."

"Right, one Chicken Karaage ramen coming right up! And what will the lady have?"

"H-huh?" Satsuki blurted out, startled by suddenly being addressed. "Oh, erm...I'll just have the same thing."

"Gotcha!" Teuchi said as he got to work. A few minutes later, two steaming hot bowls of ramen were set in front of the two Academy students. Naruto quickly went to town on the ramen, consuming the noodle dish eagerly. Meanwhile, Satsuki tentatively took a bite. Almost immediately, her world exploded in a burst of flavour. She could taste the various spices and condiments in the broth combining together, making a delicious taste.

Her face pulled back into a delighted smile. She then noticed Naruto grinning at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you seemed so happy eating this." Naruto replied, grin widening.

"H-huh? Well, it's not bad..." Deciding to cut off conversation there, Satsuki went back to the ramen.

**(Meanwhile...)**

A figure watched the two from afar.

"Ah...Young love...How nice." He mused to himself. He turned away from the couple and started to walk away.

"The wheels of fate have started to turn...I wonder how you will adapt, Uzumaki Naruto?"

* * *

After biding goodbye to the Uchiha, Naruto aimlessly walked around Konoha. Eventually, he encountered Chouji, Ino and Shikamaru relaxing at the park. He chatted with them for a while before a certain topic was raised in their conversation.

"Say, Naruto, my dad still seems to be hung up on the subject of your teacher you know." Shikamaru said to the blond boy.

"Eh, really? I wonder why...Eheheh." He nervously laughed. He remembered what Salamander told him after he told her about what happened with Shikaku.

* * *

_**"Oh? Is that so? Well, try not to tell them to much about me."** Salamander said._

"_Eh? Why?" Naruto inquired. _

**_"Isn't it obvious? Just look at me. I have fire for hair! Your villagers would instantly label me a demon. And we both know how they feel about demons. So, I'll tell you now, don't give too much information about me away. You may tell them that I'm training you, but don't give any defining features or my name."_**

"_But what if they ask for it?"_

"_**Ah. That's true..."**__ She mused. __**"Well, I'll come up with something. But what I said still stands! If you tell them about me, then...Well,let's just say that you would have the honour of seeing the largest fireball you'll ever see in your**__** life."**__ She threatened, slowly forming a fireball in her hand._

* * *

"_I definitely do not want that happening..." _Naruto thought, gulping when he remembered her threat.

"Oh,lookatthetime, Igottogetgoingseeya!" He said hurriedly, excusing himself from the conversation. He then briskly walked off towards his home. Meanwhile, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Looks like his father was on to something about Naruto.

"Tch, troublesome blonds..." He muttered.

"Hey, I'm here you know!" Ino said indignantly.

"I know. That's the point." He retorted.

**(After a while...)**

Naruto slammed the door behind him as he panted heavily. Immediately after he was out of his three classmates' sights, he dashed towards his apartment.

"_**Ara? You seem to have had a long day."**_ Salamander observed.

* * *

**_"Ah, I see. You did well to hide my identity." _**Salamander said after listening to Naruto's explanation.

**_"Well, anyway, I've come up with a new plan for your training!"_** She proudly declared.

"Eh?" Naruto intelligently said. _"Somehow...I don't think this bodes well for me..."_

**_"That's right. With this new plan, I going to make sure that the techniques I'll be teaching you will be so etched into your mind, you would be able to use them in your sleep!"_**

"_I knew it...This is going to be dangerous for me..."_

**_"I'll also be making sure that you'll be a fine ninja!"_**

"Eh? But what do you know about being a ninja?"

_**"Hah...Weren't you listening? I told you, I've been living for thousands of years! I've encountered many ninja and have studied them!"**_

"Oh yeah...You did say something like that didn't you. That's pretty amazing I guess."

**_"Of course, I'll have the assistance of this book I found on the ground!" _**She added proudly displaying a book labeled "Ninja training for dummies".

"...All respect you just gained from me is lost." Naruto said, deadpanning. "And don't sound so proud about that!"

_**"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!"**_

"You obviously don't!" And thus, their banter continued well on to the night yet again...

* * *

**A/N: And cut! So, how was this chapter? I was aiming to post weekly, but I couldn't find the time with the need to study. Exams are still coming up so the chapter might be far off. Well, tell me what you think with a review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Mysterious Foes

**A/N: Yo people! I've pieced together whatever meager free time I had and managed to finish this chapter. And guess what? If all things go well, the timeskip shall take place next chapter! Aren't you all excited? No? Okay...**

**Anyway, I'm sorry if you all felt that this story is going absurdly slow in terms of progression. I just felt that character development and showing believable training progress is important in a story, so I focused on it. Maybe a bit too much... Anyway, like I said, next chap, we should hopefully be able to go into the main storyline. Keyword hopefully. Now, let's get started shall we?**

**EDIT(26/9/2015): Skill names changed to better suit source material.**

**Normal talking: "**I will never give up!"

**Jutsus: **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Jutsu)!"

**Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dreams: **_"Who am I?"_

**Bijuu/Summons:** _**"Who dares summon**** me?!"**_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Mysterious Foes**

"**Raitei Suiryoku (Thunder Thrust)!**"

_**"Raitei**__** Suiryoku!"**_ The two voices shouted at the same time, as the resounding clunk of wood hitting wood was heard throughout the training ground.

"Gah! I lost again!" Naruto shouted in frustration, his bokken lying a few feet away from him.

_**"Of course you did! It's still a couple thousand years too early for you to ever come close to beating**** me!"**_ Salamander proudly boasted, puffing out her meager chest. The two were having their usual training.

"But I still don't get how you displaced my attack with yours like that..." Naruto grumbled.

_**"It's all about skill and experience boy! I've seen many battles, while you've barely got out of diapers. If you keep training throughout your lifespan , you just might be able to reach a quarter of my level though."**_

"Only a quarter?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. He was slightly irked at the diaper remark though...

_**"Like I said, I've had the benefit of thousands of years to hone my skills. You don't. It's as simple as that."**_

_**"Anyway, we'll stop here for today. Go get some R&amp;R and play with some kids or whatever you people do nowadays."**_And with that, Salamander walked off to do...whatever she does.

* * *

Bored out of his mind, Naruto once again randomly wandered the streets, his hands placed in a relaxed pose behind his head. As he pondered on what to do we his spare time, he saw a glint from the corner of his eye.

"Hm?" Curious, Naruto turned his head to look in the direction of the glint. It lead into a dirty alleyway. Deciding to investigate, Naruto walked into the alleyway.

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Ah!" Hinata gasped as she painfully hit the wooden floor of her clan's dojo. She was sparring with her sister Hanabi and was defeated yet again due to a swift strike from her. Raising her head, she saw the elders watching the fight frown disapprovingly at her while nodding in approval of Hanabi. After they had cleared away, Hanabi immediately rushed to her side.

"Are you alright nee-chan? I didn't hit you too hard, did I?" She asked, her lilac eyes shining with concern for her sister.

"No, I'm fine Hanabi. You did well today." Hinata assured her sister. She was used to losing to her more capable younger sister, so her body had gotten used to the punishment dealt from her sister's or other clan members' hits.

_"Too used to it..._" She thought wryly to herself.

**(A few minutes later...)**

After applying some healing cream on her minor bruises, Hinata set out into the streets with Hanabi. As she was walking, her thoughts drifted back to her dreams.

* * *

_Flames, deaths, screaming,painpainpainPainPainPAINPAINPAIN-_

* * *

"N-nee-chan? Are you really fine? You're starting to space out..."

"Eh?" Hinata intelligently asked, her sister's inquiry snapping her out of her thoughts. "O-oh, yes I-I'm fine." She replied when she managed to gather her thoughts. While she was still worried, Hanabi decided to drop the issue. She would keep an eye on her sister though.

_"That one again huh..."_ Hinata thought to herself, turning away from her sister's watchful gaze.

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Man...Just how did I get into this situation?" Naruto asked himself. "Gah!" He yelled as he dodged a kick from his assailant.

**(A few minutes earlier...)**

Approaching the alleyway, Naruto looked around for the glint he saw earlier. Seeing the glint out of the corner of his eye again, Naruto swiftly turned in its direction. To his surprise however, he felt someone grab his wallet, Gama-chan. Turning in surprise, he saw a bulky figure, whose body was covered in a long black cloak, with his wallet in hand. He then was shoved on to the floor and could only watch as the thief ran towards the training grounds.

"Wha-Hey get back here!" Naruto shouted as he recovered. He then ran in pursuit of the thief.

**(Meanwhile...)**

A figure dressed in a thick black cloak waited alone in a training ground. He inclined his head slightly to the left when he noticed a bulky figure rapidly approaching his location.

"I've brought it." The bulky thief.

"Good. Now we wait."

"...Forgive me for asking this but...Why do we require some kid's wallet?" The thief asked.

"Ah, it's not the wallet we want. It's the kid."

"What is so special about some kid? If it's to complete our mission, surely I-"

"Hush now. This boy is more valuable than he seems. Ah, and now he approaches."

Naruto reached the training ground, panting heavily. He had sprinted all the way here in pursuit of the thief and he had ran out of breath. He raised his head and glared at the thief and what was most likely his boss or accomplice.

"Give me back my wallet." He growled out, irritated at how lax the thinner man was.

"You can have it." The thinner figure said nonchalantly, tossing the frog-shaped wallet back to Naruto. Catching his wallet, Naruto immediately hugged it to his cheek.

"Oh my sweet Gama-chan! I'll never let you get stolen again, I swear!" Realizing that the two strangers were still there, Naruto swiftly pocketed his wallet and resumed glaring.

"So why did you want my wallet?"

"Oh, no, it's not your wallet we want..." The thinner man said.

"Then...? What do you want?" Naruto asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing.

"Recognise this?" The thin man asked, brandishing something in his hand.

_"Wha-But that's-!"_ Naruto thought to himself, completely taken aback. In the man's hand was a star-shaped charm. Exactly like the one in his dreams.

"How did you get that? Why do you have that? Why are you showing it to me?" Naruto asked, the swirling questions in his mind flowing out. He then shifted his body in a defensive stance. His hands drifted towards his bokken, ready to lash out at the two.

"Ooo, feisty! I like your spirit kid! But alas, I can't tell you our plans nor can I entertain you any longer. So for now, a little test for you...Budou!" The figure ended, gesturing at the bulky man next to him. Nodding, the now identified Budou stepped forward. The figure then turned and started to walk away, keeping the charm in his possession.

"Wait! What do you mean by all this? Come back here!" Naruto made to chase after the stranger, but Budou moved his bulky frame and blocked him.

"Get out of my way!"

"I don't why you are deemed important...But I have my orders and I shall carry them out. Prepare yourself!" Budou said as he lunged out with a punch.

Naruto rolled out of the way, swiftly drawing his bokken. While the wooden katana was not as sharp as a katana, it could still be an effective weapon. Naruto slashed at Budou's knees, hoping to limit his mobility. However, in a show of athleticism unexpected from a man of his size, Budou back-flipped, completely dodging the slash. He landed firmly on the ground, and then lashed out with a kick.

Naruto raised his forearm to block the attack. However, he had underestimated Budou's strength. The kick sent him back flying a few feet, making him land painfully on the ground.

_"What is up with that crazy strength? That was like being hit with a raging bull!" _Naruto thought to himself in shock. He felt a sharp pain coursing through his left forearm.

"I don't think my left hand would be useful in this fight anymore..." He mumbled to himself.

"Man...Just how did I get into this situation?" Naruto asked himself. "Gah!" He yelled as he dodged a kick from his assailant.

"If you keep talking to yourself, you're going to get beaten up!"

Dodging yet another strike from Budou, Naruto lashed back with a couple of slashes as he tried to think of a plan.

_"I can't let him hit me again...I don't think I'd be able to take another one of monstrous attacks..." _

Rolling to the side, he saw Budou's foot stomp down on where he was a few moments ago. The ground had cracked under the force of his stomp, sending soil and pebbles everywhere.

_"Yeah...Definitely can't let him hit me..."_

Deciding to try a quick hit, Naruto drew his arm back and lunged towards Budou.

"**Raitei Suiryoku!**" He shouted, bokken outstretched in front of him. The swift attack connected, piercing through the cloak that covered Budou's body. A small trickle of blood streamed down his bokken. Enraged, Budou released a roar of fury and kicked Naruto away. The blow sent him flying back once more as he screamed in pain. Naruto coughed out blood, pain wracking his body.

"It seems that you do have some potential. For one as young as you to draw my blood...I now see what that man sees in you." Budou said contemplatively. Naruto stabbed his bokken into the ground, using it as a support as he struggled to stand up.

_"**Thunder Thrust** didn't work as much as I hoped... But as least I know that I can injure him!"_ He thought. While his repertoire of techniques was still lacking, the **Raitei Suiryoku** wasn't his only technique. He hadn't been training hard for nothing after all. That said, he still only had two left other than the Raitei Suiryoku.

_"It's all or nothing I guess!"_ He thought determinedly, readying his bokken once more. He charged forward at Budou, aiming to strike him again.

"**Raitei Suiryoku!**" He yelled once more. However, his attack was dodged this time.

"W-what the-?" He asked in shock.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice boy!" Budou said as he lunged out with a punch. However, when Naruto smirked, he knew something was wrong.

"Take this!" Naruto yelled, jumping forward. When Budou saw the level in which his bokken was raised, he then knew what were Naruto's intentions.

_"S-shit, I can't stop in time!"_ He thought to himself.

"**Maken Kubikari (Demon Decapitation)**!" Naruto yelled out, his bokken slashing at Budou's neck. He remembered when Salamander taught him this move.

* * *

**(Some time earlier in the month...)**

_**"Not bad. Looks like you can pick things up pretty quickly, boy!"**__Salamander complimented. Naruto's rate of learning was honestly grossly exceeding her expectations. She was pretty impressed. Not that she would let him know that of course. Can't let him get a swelled head after all..._

_Panting heavily, Naruto collapsed on to the ground._

_"Nice -hah- to -hah- know..." He gasped out weakly. Eventually catching his breath, Naruto managed to prop his sore body against a nearby tree. _

**_"Anyways, let me tell you a bit about the _**_**Maken Kubikari**_**_! It is an attack that compliments people with small statures. So obviously it's perfect for you."_**

_"Oi!"_

**_"It's not a bad thing! A small body is good for when you charge in, and cut the enemy's neck. It's said that the demonic ronin Kamakiri was able to cut off the heads of 100 samurai using this move!"_**

_"Uwah...Another bloody backstory to a technique..."_

* * *

Naruto's bokken slashed firmly down Budou's neck. Expecting to see blood, Naruto braced himself for a gruesome sight. It wasn't there. Instead of a gash that should have appeared, there was only a small cut which trickled a bit of blood.

"B-but how?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. _"Even though I'm not using a real blade, it should have done more damage than that!"_

"Seriously, you're starting to annoy me. To push me to the point where I had to reinforce my body like that...You're turning out to be an impressive and troublesome adversary." Budou said.

"R-reinforce?"

"Oh? You Konoha kids haven't been taught that yet? I used chakra to strengthen my body."

_"If he can do that then...Is there even anything I can do against him?" _Naruto thought in frustration. _"Okay, calm down Naruto. You've still have one more technique to try out."_

Determined to win, Naruto started his plan. He turn around and ran. Stupefied by this action, Budou watched as Naruto ran deeper into the trees.

"How dare you run away! Get back here!" He yelled, enraged. Growling, he started to give chase. He then realized that Naruto wasn't running away. He was trying to run **up**.

Naruto planted his feet firmly onto the surface of the tree. He then ran up the tree while channelling chakra to his feet.

_"At my current level of control, I've got about ten seconds before I won't be able to stick to the tree anymore...I have to make this count!"_

Pursuing the blond boy, Budou ran up the tree. He honestly was astonished that he already knew how to walk on trees. Looks like there really was merit to that man's interest... However, he was confident that this mere boy would not be able to defeat him. The very thought was laughable.

So confident was he, that he did not realized the boy was deliberately trying to make him follow along. So confident was he, that he did not realized what the boy's intentions were when he relinquished his grip on the tree. So when the boy jumped down, brandishing his wooden blade, it was already too late for Budou to save himself.

"HAAAAAH!" Naruto screamed as he used his trump card.

* * *

**(A few days earlier****...)**

_**"You're progressing as well as usual. To think that you already know how to perform this technique so soon. I must say, I'm kinda**** impressed!"**__ Salamander complimented._

_"Right..." Naruto tiredly said. He was too exhausted to say anything witty this time._

**_"Well then, allow me to tell you more about this move! This move was a favourite of a Tengu warrior known as Kazeshini, who was also known as Death on Wings. Smashing the skulls of three hundred enemies, their brains covering the field in a bloody mess."_**

_"Hah...Yet another morbid tale..."_

**_ "Shut up! Anyway, during battle, it's normally suicide to jump other than for dodging. When you jump, it's pretty obvious what your movements are going to be until you land. But this technique is different. By falling too fast for them to hit you, you crush the skull of your enemy before they are able to react. There's a issue though..."_**

_"An issue?"_

_**"Well, as you saw, you need to be at a great height to use this technique...And since you're a human and not a Tengu, you can't fly in the air. Therefore, if there's nothing to climb nearby, you can't use this technique.**_

_"I see...I guess I'll have to be careful then."_

* * *

_"Luckily for me, there's plenty of high places for me to use!" _Naruto thought to himself.

"EAT THIS! **Tenmazugaizan (Demon Skull Beheading)!"** Naruto screamed, landing a firm blow on Budou's head.

Unable to channel his chakra in time, Budou could do nothing but close his eyes and face his impending doom.

"Not bad kid...I guess I've no choice but to admit defeat..." He muttered his last words. And with a sickening crunch, Budou's life ended.

Collapsing on to the ground Naruto felt the adrenaline in his veins fade away as he started to lose consciousness.

_"At least...I won..."_ He thought to himself. The last thing he saw was a man with a dog mask drop down in front of him...

**(A few minutes ago...)**

Kakashi was screwed. He knew he was. By some unfortunate incident, he had lost track of his charge, Uzumaki Naruto. As he silently hopped from roof to roof, he was praying internally for his sensei's son's safety. Suddenly, he heard the sound of crumbling earth coming from the direction of a training ground.

_"If I remembered correctly, that should be Training Ground Four... Which is supposed to start renovations tomorrow, so it shouldn't be in use. Guess I'll check it_ out." Kakashi thought to himself, as he changed his direction to that of the training ground. As he got closer, he heard a guttural shout of rage and the sound of a body crashing painfully against the ground. A scream of pain resounded out.

_"T-that voice! Naruto!"_ He thought worriedly, increasing his pace. He could only hope that he could make it in time...

When he reached the training ground he was shocked to see Naruto running up a tree, with a bulky cloaked figure in hot pursuit.

_"Impossible! How does he already know tree-walking?!"_ His worries only increased from there as he saw Naruto fall. He made to go and catch, but then he noticed something.

_"His posture...It isn't like one of a person who lost their grip...It's almost like-That's it! He wants to fall! But why?" _

Deciding to observe the blond, Kakashi then saw how Naruto's hands were raised together, holding a bokken in between them.

"EAT THIS! **Tenmazugaizan**!" He heard Naruto scream. His eyes then widened when he saw Naruto's bokken crash down on the cloaked figure's head. He heard a sickening crunch and he knew then that the cloaked figure's life was forfeit. As both Naruto and the now dead cloaked figure's bodies collapsed on to the floor, Kakashi decided to file away what he just saw and instead focus on getting Naruto to safety. Dropping down in front of Naruto, Kakashi took out a scroll and sealed away the corpse lying not far from the boy. Pocketing the scroll, he then picked Naruto up and took off towards the hospital.

**(Meanwhile...)**

A figure watched as the blond boy took Budou's life. Another figure silently approached him.

"So...That's the one huh? I can understand why you're so now. To be able to take the life of one of our own...It is truly impressive." The figure asked, the voice distinctively female.

"Yes...But that is not even close to his true potential. While the lose of Budou is regrettable, he should have known better than to underestimate the boy."

"So we're just going to let him go then?"

"For now...There is still ample time my friend. Let the boy grow. After all, we shouldn't pick a fruit before it is ripe..."

"I understand." Noticing that the man had something clutched in his hand, the woman stared at it.

"Huh? Oh this?" The man asked, noticing her stare. He then proceeded to crush the star-shaped charm and let it's remains drop to the ground. Surprised, the woman just stared at the man.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! And besides, it's nothing more than a cheap imitation anyway..." He assured her.

* * *

Sarutobi looked over Naruto worriedly as he listened to Kakashi's report. The two were currently standing in a white hospital room, which was sparsely decorated.

"I see...This is indeed worrying." He said after Kakashi finished his report.

"I'm sorry. If I hadn't let him out of my sight, this would've never had happened..." Kakashi said regretfully.

"It's fine. What matters now is that Naruto is safe. As for the corpse, send it to the Intelligence Division's coroner to identify this...assailant. If he is from one of the other villages, we need to know."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." And with that, Kakashi performed a Shunshin and left the room. Sighing, Sarutobi turned his head back to Naruto.

_"Minato...Just what is your son getting himself into?"_

**(The next day...)**

Naruto opened his eyes to see a plain white ceiling. Recognizing it to be the hospital's, Naruto instantly knew where he was.

_**"Looks like you're awake**** huh?"**_ A familiar voice said.

"Eh? Salamander? What are you doing here?"

_**"What do you think? Did you know how worried I was when you didn't come**** home?!"**_ She cried out, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Surprised at the sudden show of emotion, Naruto could do nothing as Salamander continued to scold him.

_**"-and I leave you for a few hours and you almost get yourself**** killed!"**_ She finished, panting as she exhausted all the air in her lungs. Her legs then gave way, falling on her knees and her head laying on the bed.

"Sorry." What else could he say in this situation? All he could do now was to tenderly pat her head and say 'Sorry'...

**(A few minutes later...)**

_**"I see...So that's what**** happened..."**_ Salamander mused. After calming herself down, she listened as Naruto explained how he got into his current situation.

_**"But still, to already be able to use the techniques I taught him in a real battle...He really does learn quick doesn't**** he?"**_ She thought fondly to herself.

But before she could say more, the door opened. Recognizing who came in, Naruto's mouth broke out into a wide smile.

"Jiji!" He cheerfully greeted.

"Hello, Naruto. How are you doing?"

"I never felt better! I was just-" He trailed off when he noticed that Salamander was nowhere to be found.

"You were just...?" Sarutobi inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Nevermind..."

"Well then, can you tell me what happened?"

**(After a while...)**

After explaining his story to Sarutobi, the old monkey left to settle "Hokage business". Deciding to get some rest, Naruto closed his eyes and laid back on the bed.

_**"Hey I'm not done with you**** yet!"**_

"Gah!" He shouted, jumping up in surprise. He turned his head and saw Salamander sitting on a vacant bed.

"You startled me! And where did you go off to?"

_**"I never left. I simply concealed my**_** presence."** She smugly said.

"Eh? You can do that?"

_**"Of course I can! Anyway, with what you told me, I suppose we'll have to step-up your**** training yet again...Who knows when they'll come back?"**_

"E-eh?" Naruto intelligently asked. _"S-step it up?! MY CURRENT TRAINING'S HARD ENOUGH!"_ He screamed in his head. And then he remembered something.

"A-ah...I see."

_**"Hm? I thought you would be a bit more enthusiastic about**** this..."**_

"Huh? Oh, I'm really excited! It's just..." He denied, not wanting to disappoint Salamander.

_**"Just..?"**_

"I-I killed him..." He muttered. "I killed him with my own two hands..." He said, looking at his hands as if there was still blood covering them.

_**"Hah...So that's what this is about huh? Listen boy, at that time it was kill, or be killed. You didn't know what they might have done if you lost and got knocked**** out."**_

"B-but still! I killed him! And with a technique you taught me..." He said, looking down in shame.

_**"Baka."**_ Was her simple reply.

"E-eh?" Naruto asked, surprised by her reply.

_**"Why do you think I taught you those techniques for? Each one of those moves I taught you were lethal in their own rights! If I taught you those moves and thought that you wouldn't kill anyone, I would be a fool."**_

Stunned into silence, Naruto just continued to look down.

_**"Did you enjoy killing him?"**_

"W-what? Of course not!" Naruto shouted, slightly offended at the notion that he would take pleasure in taking a life.

_**"Then what's wrong? You're a shinobi-in-training are you not? Eventually you'll have to kill. And if you don't enjoy killing, that's fine, cause not a lot of ninjas enjoy killing either."**_

"T-that's true I guess..."

_**"What's more, I taught you those techniques so that you could defend yourself in such situations. Don't think of yourself and your blade as a means of killing, think of it as a means to protect yourself and those who are dear to you!"**_

"So...In other words, a blade that protects?"

_**"Exactly. Well, I'll let you think this over. You're still recovering, so get so rest. We'll discuss the details of your training when you get back. Rest well, bo-Naruto."**_She said, pausing at the last bit. She then left through the window, somehow not attracting the attention of the multiple ANBU stationed around the area.

_"Huh, she called me by my name..."_ He thought, before sighing.

"Hah...Looks like my future is going to be filled with pain huh?" He lamented, shuddering in fear of the torture he knew he was going to be subjected to soon. After that talk with Salamander, he wasn't as depressed anymore.

_"Oh yeah, I better check if they took anything away from my wallet..." _He thought, unzipping the large toad-shaped wallet's 'mouth'. When he opened the wallet, a red flash came from inside the wallet. Dropping the wallet in surprise, Naruto could only gape and rub his eyes in disbelief. The cause for his shock was firmly wedged between the ample notes and coins which made up the contents of the wallet. It was almost unnoticeable, and if Naruto had not seen the flash, he would have definitely missed it. It was a-no, it would be wrong to just say that it was an "a". It was **his** charm, the one he had been repeatedly reminded of inside his dreams/memories...

* * *

**A/N: And we're done! So how was this chapter? This chapter must be one of the longest I've written so far! Like I said, the next chapter will have the timeskip. It's going to be a bit far off though, cause advance paper is coming right up in two weeks... Anyway, leave a comment below please. Did I do good with this fight scene? What about that scene at the end between Salamander and Naruto? Like Naruto's two new techniques? Or do you hate them? Lemme know what you all think!**


	8. Chapter 8: Graduation and Betrayal

**A/N: Yo! The time-skip's finally here! I hope that this chapter will be able to meet everyone's expectations. This chapter's just on the Graduation Exams and Mizuki though. Teams and missions will be in the next one. I bet it's pretty obvious by now who's going to be in Naruto's team huh?**

**Anyway, the only reason I'm able to update now is because of a week of school break. Sadly, this is one of the last day's so...Yeah, let's just say that I won't be updating for a while.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners. All I own is the fishcake I'm eating while I wrote this.**

**EDIT(26/9/2015):Minor corrections.**

Normal talking: "I will never give up!"

Jutsus: **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu!)"**

Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: _"Who am I?"_

Bijuu/Summons:** _"Who dares to summon me?!"_**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Graduation and Betrayal**

"Alright, settle down everyone! Now, before we start, we shall take attendance." Umino Iruka announced, listing the names of the students on his checklist one by one.

"-Uzumaki Naruto!...Uzumaki Naruto?" He asked when he received no reply. Looking around, he saw that the blond haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

"Has anyone seen him?" He questioned the class. When he saw all the students shake their heads, he sighed. _"And to think I told him not to be late...This is his exam to become a genin for Kami's sake!"_

As Naruto was the last on the list, there was no one else to call. As he could not delay the exam, he sighed once more and began giving out instructions for the exams. But before he could start, the door slid open with a resounding thud and a body fell through. The boy had spiky blond hair and was wearing a orange jumpsuit. A pair of green goggles covered his forehead. Recognizing the boy, Iruka sighed for the third time and went over to check on the fallen boy.

"Seriously Naruto, couldn't you at least TRY to make it on time? This exam's going to determine your future you know! And you've already failed it twice!" Iruka chided.

"Eheheh...Sorry Iruka-sensei, I was training late into the night and I just sorta overslept..." Naruto replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

""Just sorta overslept?" Hah...Forget it, just go to your seat Naruto." Iruka said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Almost instantly Naruto was seated, which almost made Iruka think that Naruto performed a **Shunshin**. Deciding wisely not to add on to his emerging headache by questioning it, Iruka cleared his throat and started to give out instructions.

"Right then...Today you all shall be taking the Academy Graduation Examinations. While this may seem like a simple thing, this exam is the first step towards becoming true ninjas. Do not take this exam lightly! Now, Mizuki-sensei shall give the breakdown of the exam to you." He then stepped back to let Mizuki talk.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. The exam will be separated into two parts, a written one-" At hearing this, there many groans of disappointment rang out across the classroom. Eye twitching slightly, Mizuki cleared his throat in an attempt to reclaim the attentions of the students.

"AHEM! As I was saying, the exam will split into two parts, a written one and practical one. Your goal is to garner enough points from the two parts so that you can pass. The written exam is a typical one, so I won't into detail about that. The practical exam itself consists of four portions, an accuracy test, a taijutsu test, a genjutsu test, and finally a ninjutsu test. Further instructions will be given out during the portion itself. Any questions? No? Then Iruka-sensei and I will now give out the test papers."

**(A couple of hours later...)**

"THUNK,THUNK,THUNK,THUNK!" Was the sound Naruto heard as the shuriken he threw came in contact with the multiple targets set up around the field. Looking around, Naruto was disappointed as he saw that some had missed the targets completely, while others barely managed to wedge themselves on the wooden targets.

"Uzumaki Naruto, 6/10 for kunai accuracy, 4/10 for shuriken accuracy, giving him a total of 10/20 for this portion." Iruka announced.

"Damn, I barely passed this one huh?" Naruto cursed. He could only hope that he would be able to do better in the taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu.

_"I can't count on my written exam scores after all...The questions were just too hard dammit!"_ He thought. Seriously, why does he need to know whether or not a kunai thrown vertically from 500 metres can reach 50 km/h before coming back to the ground?

**(A few minutes later...)**

"Uzumaki Naruto, make your way to the ring please." Iruka said. After Naruto was in, he nodded and glanced at his checklist.

"Naruto, like everyone else, Mizuki shall be examining your Taijutsu skills. The goal is to last for at least five minutes. Are both sides ready?" At both of their nods, Iruka raised his hands and yelled: "HAJIME!"

Naruto shot forth like a rocket, aiming to land a pre-emptive attack on Mizuki. However, Mizuki dodged Naruto's attack. Mizuki then turned and struck out with a heel kick. Naruto ducked under the kick, and took advantage of Mizuki's temporary unbalance to do a leg sweep. Unable to dodge, as he had one leg in the air, Mizuki fell down face first onto the ground. Jumping immediately at the chance, Naruto swiftly pinned Mizuki on the floor. Unable to struggle free, Mizuki eventually conceded defeat. The entire bout had taken last than two minutes...

"Alright, you get a 9/10. Now please release Mizuki-sensei, Naruto." After Naruto did so, Mizuki rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Man, I didn't expect you to be so fast Naruto. Good job!" He said. _"Tch, I got careless and underestimated the demon's speed...I'll get you later you demon scum!"_

**(Half an hour later...)**

Naruto stepped forward as gulped nervously. He wasn't very good at genjutsu so he was slightly nervous.

"Okay Naruto, Mizuki's going to cast a genjutsu on you at some point. Your task is to determine whether or not you are in a genjutsu and dispel it." Naruto nodded his understanding, bracing himself for the genjutsu. And so he waited as the two teachers left the room. And he waited. And waited. Starting to get bored, Naruto decided to get out check with the teachers if the test had started. He walked towards the door, a bored expression on his face.

"Hm? Was the door always this far away from my seat?" He asked himself. Deciding to hurry up, Naruto sprinted towards the door. But no matter how much he ran, the door wasn't getting any closer.

_"What the-Wait a minute..."_ He thought. He then closed his eyes and brought his hands together in a clap and channeled chakra. Immediately, he could feel the genjutsu fade away from him as the foreign chakra was expelled. Satisfied that he managed to break the genjutsu, Naruto proudly strutted toward the door. However, when he tried to grasp the handle of the door, he found that he couldn't. Confused, he started to panic and bang on the door. Suddenly the door disappeared and in it's place was the plain white surface of the classroom's wall.

"Looks like you weren't able to dispel the **Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique)** huh? I'll guess I'll have to give you a 0/10 for this one then." Iruka said, slightly disappointed that Naruto failed to dispel a simple genjutsu.

"Oh man..." Naruto complained. _"I could've sworn I dispelled the genjutsu...What happened?"_

While Naruto thought over what happened, Mizuki hid a smirk.

**(Meanwhile...)**

A girl watched our blond hero from afar. She had mocha-coloured skin and was dressed in a plain red shirt with a equally plain black skirt. She had red eyes and had a wild and confident aura around her. But that wasn't her most defining feature. No, the most striking part of her was her literally flaming hair. Salamander watched as Naruto clapped his hands together and dispelled the genjutsu placed on him. However, when he tried to open a wall like he would a door, she knew something was off. She widened her eyes when she realized what had happened.

_"A double-layered genjutsu? Why would they use one on a mere Academy student?"_ She thought. Narrowing her eyes, her hair started to flare up as angry filled her thoughts when she saw the sliver-haired teacher hide his smirk.

_"T-that swine! How dare he sabotage my student!"_ Calming herself down, she decided to continue observing Naruto from afar before taking action.

**(A few moments later...)**

Naruto sighed as he took a seat while waiting for his turn to take the ninjutsu exam. He was starting to get slightly worried, especially after messing-up his genjutsu exam. Noticing that he wasn't alone in the row, he turned his head and saw a girl with blue hair. Recognizing her as Hyuuga Hinata, he moved down the row and approached her.

_"Naruto-kun doesn't seem to be very happy...I hope that everything's okay..." _Hinata thought to herself, occasionally glancing at her blond crush.

_"H-huh? EEP!"_ She squeaked in her head when she noticed Naruto moving down the row. It took all the self-control she had not to explode in embarrassment when he sat down next to her.

_"H-he's sitting next to me! Oh, what should I do? Should I talk to him? But I don't want to accidentally make him unhappier...Oh, I must look like a tomato right now..."_ She thought to herself when she felt her cheeks heat up(even more).

"Yo! You're Hyuuga Hinata right?" Naruto greeted.

"H-h-h-hai!" She stuttered out. "I-I-it's n-n-nice t-t-to m-meet y-you!"

"Eh? Ah, same here." He replied, slightly curious as to why she was blushing and stuttering. Putting his hand on her forehead, he tried to check if she had a fever. Needless to say, this act only made Hinata heat up like a furnace. Luckily (or unluckily) for her, Iruka then came into the room and called her.

"Good luck, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said.

"T-t-t-thank y-y-you." She stuttered, while she squealed on the inside. _"Naruto-kun called me "Hinata-chan", he called me "Hinata-chan"!"_

Now slightly more confident than before, Hinata made her way to the testing room. After waiting for another half-hour, he noticed someone else come out of the testing room. She had fair skin and straight black hair tied in a twin-tails style. Approaching her, Naruto gave a friendly wave, drawing her attention. She turned and looked at him with her onyx eyes.

"Yo, Satsuki-chan! How was the exam?" He greeted friendlily. Over the past few years, he had attempted to and somewhat succeeded in getting closer to her. The two were now on friendly terms(or at least, that's what Naruto would like to think). She nodded back her greeting, crossing her arms under her budding chest.

"It was easy for someone like me. I don't know about you though." She said. Faltering a bit, Naruto sighed.

"Hah...Yeah, after my accuracy and genjutsu tests, I'm going to have to do well if I want to pass..." He said glumly. Noticing this, Satsuki turned away and seemed to think through something, before opening her mouth.

"Well...Y-you better do well for this alright?! I-if you don't then I'll punish you! You got that?" She said, blushing slightly. Not that Naruto noticed though.

"Eh? R-right. Got it." He said, slightly taken aback by Satsuki's encouragement, though it was in a roundabout way.

"Hmph! Well then, I've other things to do. Bye." She said as she turned and walked away. At that moment, Iruka came out of one of the testing room and called for Naruto. Naruto nervously gulped as he followed Iruka into the room.

_"This is it...I have to pass this, or else...!"_ He thought to himself, gulping once more.

"Relax! If you've really been training hard then this shouldn't be difficult to you!" Iruka encouraged after noticing his student's nervousness.

"R-right! Just watch, Iruka-sensei! I'll pass this test, become genin, and then go on to become Hokage!" Naruto said determinedly, pumping his fist in the air.

"That's the spirit! Now then, shall we start?" Iruka said, addressing the last part to Mizuki, who was already waiting inside.

"Sure! Alright Naruto, your task is simple. Perform the **Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)**, the **Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)** and finally, the **Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique)**." Mizuki explained to Naruto.

"URK! **B-Bunshin no Jutsu?**" Naruto parroted. _"I hope my training is enough..."_ He thought. While his chakra control has progressed, he wasn't sure he would be able to pull it off completely. He had no worries about the other two though.

"Don't worry, you should able to do fine! I wish you good luck Naruto!" Mizuki said, patting Naruto on the back.

_"I guess I'll try to cross that bridge when I get there..."_

First he performed the **Kawarimi no Jutsu**, replacing himself with a nearby table. He then did the Henge, transforming into a exact replica of Iruka.

_"Here comes the hard part...Alright, pull it together Naruto. Just do it like when you were training with Salamander..."_ He thought to himself.

He focused his chakra as he formed the seals, praying to Kami to let him succeed. His prayers were unanswered. In a burst of smoke, Naruto's heart sank when he saw a flimsy, sick looking clone on the ground.

"You fail." Iruka flatly said.

"C'mon Iruka-sensei! Can't you give me a chance?"

"Why not, Iruka? His performed decently well today, and this IS his third attempt. Why don't we let him pass this time?"

"Mizuki, all the other students managed to make at least three working clones, while Naruto couldn't even make a single one! It would be unfair to the other students if we just let him pass like that. I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't show any favoritism." As Iruka said that, Naruto silently began to walk out of the room.

_"Heheh. Looks like that seal I planted when I patted him worked! I'm surprised he still managed to do two of the jutsus though...Well, it doesn't matter. Time to put my plan in motion..." _Mizuki thought deviously to himself, hiding his smirk from Iruka. And since the seal would fade away on it's on, he didn't need to worry about that brat finding out!

* * *

Naruto silently watched as the graduates cheerfully congratulated each other, while being congratulated by their parents and family. He failed. That notion itself weighed heavily on him like a boulder. He had failed, not only himself, but Iruka-sensei, Salamander, Satsuki and everyone else who had cheered him on. As he sighed heavily, he noticed someone approaching him.

"S-Satsuki..." He muttered out.

"Hey. I heard that you didn't managed to pass...What happened?" She asked in concern. While she may not show it, the blond boy had really grown on her over the past couple of years. Seeing him like this is just...She just couldn't stand by and watch...

"I screwed up. That's what happened!" He bitterly said. Surprised by his negativity, Satsuki could do nothing but watch as Naruto looked down sadly.

"W-well...I hope that you'll pass next time." She muttered, unsure what to say. Deciding to give him some time to cheer up, Satsuki walked away from the blond.

"Iruka really wanted to pass you, y'know." Someone suddenly said. Turning his head, Naruto saw Mizuki standing next to him, a sympathetic expression on his face.

"Iruka's tough, but he's not against you."

"Then why? Why only me?"

"He wants you to be strong with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you. He's like you, ya know? No parent...no family..."

"I know that! But...I really wanted to graduate this time!"

"Well...There is another way..." Mizuki slyly said. _"Heheh...Here's the bait."_

"A-another way?"

"Yup! It's a super-secret test, meant only for those who failed but have potential."

"R-really? Then hurry up and tell me!" Naruto eagerly said, desperate to pass.

_"Heheh, hook, line and sinker."_ Mizuki thought sinisterly. "You just need to do one little thing...

**(Meanwhile...)**

"I know how you feel Iruka..." Sarutobi said.

"Huh?"

"You grew up just like Naruto, without knowing the love of a mother and father, the warmth of a family." When he said that, Iruka's mind flashed back to when his parents died.

* * *

_The sounds of battle could be heard as a giant, nine-tailed fox rampaged on the land._

_"Don't let it get near the village!" One ninja shouted. Meanwhile, another had a young brunette boy struggling in his arms as he ran away from the chaos._

_"LET ME GO! MOM AND DAD ARE STILL FIGHTING IN THERE!" He screamed, futilely struggling against the stronger adult shinobi._

* * *

"Iruka, wake up!" Someone shouted frantically as he pounded on the door. Now awake, Iruka rushed to the door and saw Mizuki.

"What? What is it?" He questioned.

"You need to go to Hokage-sama's office right away! It's Naruto, he stole the Scroll of Sealing!"

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Man, that was easy!" Naruto commented to himself. All it had took to steal the scroll was just a well timed **Oiroke no Jutsu(Sexy Technique)**.

_"Heheh, Jiji went down easily!"_ He thought triumphantly to himself. "Now then...Mizuki-sensei said that the meeting point was around here..."

Naruto then glanced around, taking note of his surroundings. He grinned in satisfaction when he saw a old shed, exactly like the one that Mizuki had specified. Approaching it, Naruto opened the scroll and started to read it. If he could just learn one jutsu, just one, he would finally be able to become a shinobi!

"Just what IS this thing anyway? I mean, it has to mean something if it was in Jiji's office after all." Naruto thought aloud as he unfurled the scroll. His eyes then saw the first jutsu on the scroll.

**"****Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?"** He mumbled out.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Iruka jumped frantically through the trees as he scanned the forest for his blond student.

"Dammit, Naruto...Why did you steal the Scroll of Sealing?" He mumbled worriedly to himself. _"Just where could he_ _be?" _

As he travelled further into the dense forest, he eventually heard the sound of something popping. Deciding to investigate, Iruka increased his pace. When he reached the clearing, the first thing he noticed was Naruto sitting next to an old shed, panting heavily. Naruto then lifted his head up when he heard Iruka land, his face breaking out in a large grin.

"Not bad, sensei. You caught me already! I only had time to learn one technique!" Naruto jubilantly said. "Listen Iruka-sensei! I'm gonna show you this amazing jutsu and you're gonna let me graduate! That's the way it works right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes."

"Wha-Where did you get that idea from?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me! He told me where to find the scroll and everything and-" He trailed off when he saw Iruka's shocked face.

_"Mizuki?!"_ Iruka barely had time to think as he then noticed several kunai flying towards them.

Iruka leapt forward and pushed Naruto out of the way of the sharp projectiles. However, a few impaled themselves on his arms and legs.

"I see you found our little hideout." Mizuki said as he revealed himself.

"So that's how it is huh? I should've known!"

"Naruto, give me the scroll now!" Mizuki shouted, turning to the blond boy.

"Wha? Wait a minute, what's going on here?!"

"Naruto! Don't let Mizuki get the scroll! It contains forbidden jutsu that can put this village in grave danger! Mizuki is using you to get the scroll for himself!" Iruka said as he pulled out a kunai from his arm, panting.

"Naruto! Iruka is just trying to scare you cause he doesn't want you to have the scroll."

"Stop lying Mizuki! Don't let him trick you Naruto!"

"Hahahaha! Oh, I'll tell you who's really lying." Mizuki said, laughing mockingly.

"What?" Naruto asked, getting more and more disoriented.

"NO! Mizuki, don't!" Iruka desperately shouted.

"They've been lying to you your whole life Naruto. Since the decree twelve years ago." Mizuki said, grinning wildly.

"D-decree?"

"Everyone knows except you. Iruka's trying to hide it from you even now. He'd do anything to shut me up!"

"What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?"

"Don't tell him, it's forbidden!"

"The decree is that no one can tell you that the Kyuubi is inside you!"

"W-what?" Naruto muttered out. His entire world had slowed down as the implications of what Mizuki said dawned on him.

"Looks like you've started to realize it. That's right, you're the Kyuubi! The demon fox that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body! You're the nine-tailed fox!" Mizuki said, grin widening even further.

"N-no. Tha-that can't be true!" Naruto said in shock, backing away from Mizuki.

"Oh, I can assure you, it's very true. Everyone's been sneaking around hiding things from you for your whole life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt?! Like they hated you for just being alive?!"

"I...I..." Naruto stuttered, unable to speak. "D-damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!" He shouted out in frustration as bright blue chakra began swirling around him.

"Hahah! You understand now don't you? No one's going to recognize you! Even Iruka despises you! NOW DIE, DEMON!" Mizuki screamed when he realized his chance to kill off the blond.

Naruto turned away and started to crawl/run away, fear gripping him.

"NARUTO, DUCK!" He heard someone shout. Putting his hands up in an attempt to shield himself, he shut his eyes when he heard the sound of impaled flesh, only to open his eyes again when he realized that he wasn't in any pain.

He looked up and saw Iruka gasping in pain. Iruka then hacked, blood dropping onto Naruto's face.

"W-why?

"Because you're the same as me..."

"Eh?" Naruto asked in shock, eyes widening.

"Ever since my parents died, no one ever complimented me or recognized me... Being the bad student that I was, I screwed up a lot in class...Because I wanted to get everyone's attention. I couldn't get anyone's attention when I was a good student...So I played the part of the fool. It was tough..." Iruka explained, tears starting to flow out of his eyes.

"Right, Naruto? You were lonely, right? It was tough, right?" At this, Naruto could only stare in shock as Iruka cried.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. You wouldn't have felt this way if I'd been more aware." Iruka finished.

"Don't make me laugh! Iruka has hated you since you killed his parents!" Mizuki shouted, disgusted at what he was seeing. "He just wants that scroll back!"

"Shut up." Naruto said, closing his eyes.

***INSERT OST:始まりの章 -Gaim OST Track 2(just copy the words. This is completely optional and for**** ambience.****And don't worry about the ending of the OST, let it end when it does.)***

"Eh?" Both Iruka and Mizuki intelligently asked, surprised at his sudden reply.

"I said shut up!" Naruto shouted in anger. "Right now...I...I don't know who to trust anymore dammit!"

"N-Naruto..." Iruka said, saddened when he said that.

"But...I do know one thing."

"Oh? What was is that?" Mizuki asked mockingly.

"I know that...I'm going to beat you." Naruto said, glaring angrily at Mizuki.

"Hah! You beat me? You couldn't even pass your exam! You're too weak to beat me!" Mizuki laughed.

"You're right. As I am now, I am weak. But even so, I'm not going to back down."

"What are you talking about Naruto? Take the scroll and leave!" Iruka shouted.

"I won't. I'm not going to leave you here." Naruto stated defiantly.

"W-what?"

"You were right Iruka-sensei. I was lonely. It was tough. But...Somewhere deep down inside of me, I know that it wasn't always like that." He said as the images of two girls flashed through his mind.

"I used to have two really close friends. We played together a lot, and it was fun. But somehow, we were separated and forgot about each other... But I know that they were there." Naruto said, closing his eyes once more.

"Don't be a fool! You can't beat Mizuki! Run away, and let me handle him!" Iruka protested.

"Don't worry, sensei. I may not remember them very well, and for all I know, they might be dead. But until I find out who they are, until I find out what happened, I'm not going to die. That's a promise." He replied, drawing out his weathered bokken.

"Right now, I'm going to protect you like you did for me. I will...I will become a sword that protects!"

"Grhh...Cheap talk! I've had enough of this, time to die!" Mizuki growled. He then lunged forward with a kunai in hand, aiming for Naruto's jugular.

Naruto blocked the kunai with his bokken, then used his free hand to punch Mizuki in the gut. Caught unawares, Mizuki staggered back after taking the blow. Mizuki lashed back with a few quick swipes from his kunai, which were all swiftly blocked by Naruto.

_"Tch, like that time during that taijutsu test, he's faster than I thought."_ Mizuki thought to himself. He threw a few shuriken in an attempt to distract the blonde and formed a Tori(Bird) seal.

"**Doton: Doryūsō(Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears)!**" Mizuki shouted, shaping the mud on the ground into spikes. He then sent them at Naruto, aiming to skewer him.

Mizuki grinned when he saw the jutsu pierce through the blond's body.

"Too bad...Looks like you couldn't do anything to me huh, demon? Well, demons like you deserve to be killed anyway. Now then, time to take the scroll and meet up with Orochimaru-sama's agents."

"Sheesh, and they say I talk too much." A voice said from above him.

"N-Nani?" Mizuki said as he dodged to the side, a bokken smashing down on the ground he was standing a few moments ago.

_"But how?! I saw him get pierced!"_ Mizuki thought to himself, glancing at the mud spikes he had formed. His eyes widened when he saw a log in the place of Naruto.

_"The **Kawarimi**? To think that I was tricked by such a basic jutsu..." _

Mizuki dodged a leg sweep from Naruto and brandished the large shuriken on his back. Naruto's rapid slashes were blocked due to the shuriken's large size and Mizuki's proficiency in using the large projectile.

"Heheh. Looks that that puny wooden sword of yours can't do shit to me now, huh demon brat?" Mizuki taunted. "Something like that won't be enough if you want to beat me!"

Naruto then stabbed the bokken into the ground, as he brought his hands together.

"So what? If one sword won't work, then how about a few hundred?" Naruto shot back, his fingers locking together in a cross-shaped hand seal. In a gargantuan puff of smoke, the forest was soon flooded with Naruto clones.

"W-what the? How can a weakling like you perform a technique like this?" Mizuki asked in disbelief.

_"You have truly grown, Naruto..."_ Iruka thought to himself in awe.

"GET HIM!" The original Naruto shouted, with shouts of agreement resounding from his clones. They descended upon Mizuki mercilessly and relentlessly. For the sanity of the reader and the audience, the exact method of how Mizuki was pulverized is omitted.

Needless to say, after they were done with the traitorous shinobi, he was barely recognizable.

"Whew. I'm glad that's over."

"I hope you at least kept him alive..." Iruka said, sweatdropping.

"Huh? Well, he's alive. But why do we need someone like him?"

"We still need to interrogate him. He mentioned Orochimaru in your fight. If that snake's agents really are inside the village, then we need to know." Iruka explained. He then noticed Naruto's blank expression.

"Hah...You DO remember who Orochimaru is, right?"

"Er...Oh, look the sun's rising!" Naruto said, trying to change the subject.

_"You obviously forgot!...Or didn't pay attention. I don't know which is worst..."_ Iruka thought, ticked off. _"I guess no matter how much he matures, some things never change huh?"_

He then smiled fondly and took off his hitai-ate.

"Naruto, close your eyes for a while."

"Huh? Alright." Naruto said, doing as instructed. He then felt his goggles get removed and in their place, he felt cloth.

"Alright, you can open your eyes now." Naruto opened his eyes, eyes drifting upwards to see a hitai-ate on his forehead. Naruto turned and looked at Iruka in shock, who was now devoid of his hitai-ate.

"I...I...Just, thank you Iruka-sensei." Naruto said gratefully.

"Hahah. You've earned it Naruto. From now onwards, you are officially a genin of Konohagakure. Congratulations!"

* * *

"I'm home..." Naruto tiredly muttered. He had just returned from a lengthy discussion with the Hokage and Iruka. The meeting had taken longer than he had expected and with what he had went through earlier, he was exhausted. By the time they had finished, it was already near 12 noon.

_**"You sure took your time."**_

"Huh? Oh,*yawn* Salamander."

_**"Sheesh, couldn't you be a bit more enthusiastic with your greetings? But, I can't blame you I guess. You did go through a lot today. Or should I say yesterday?"**_

"Eh? You know about what happened?"

_**"Of course I do! I was there after all!"**_ She proudly stated. Upon hearing this, Naruto got a tick-mark on his head.

"So you're telling me that you were there all along...And didn't bother to help?"

_**"W-well, in my defense, I knew you could handle it!"**_

"But still! I could have died back there! The least you could have done was help a bit!"

_**"H-hey I was right in the end all right? You are obviously alive after all."**_

"Whatever, I'm too tired. I'm going to bed."

_**"Naruto."**_

"Huh? What is it this time?"

_**"I just wanted to let you know, I'm really proud of you. You're progressing so quicker than what I had expected when I first met you. You've already defeated two opponents who should've been stronger than you. So...Yeah. I'm really proud of**** you."**_Salamander said, scratching her cheek.

Slightly surprised at her words, Naruto smiled tiredly but gratefully at her and went into his room.

Salamander plopped down onto the couch, sighing. She was honestly worried about her student's sanity when Mizuki revealed that Naruto had the Kyuubi within him. Not that she would ever let him know.

_"But still, he really is like **him** huh? They both progress so fast, and they have the same aura around them..." _She thought, thinking nostalgically about the past.

* * *

**_"Why are you doing this? Didn't we promise to fight_****_ together?"_**_Salamander desperately shouted, drifting further and further away. She could still make it, if she could just-_

* * *

Shaking her head, Salamander snapped herself out of the memory.

_"Now isn't the time to dwell on past regrets. I've got someone else to protect now..." _She thought to herself.

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Hahahahahah! The boy had truly grown! He will play a pivotal part in our upcoming performance! The stage will soon be set, now it's time to wait for the actors and actresses to come. Uzumaki Naruto! I can't wait to see what you will do...Hahahahahah!"

* * *

**A/N: What's with Salamander's mysterious past? What will Naruto do from now on? And who is that at the end? Find out in the next chapter!...Which probably won't be coming anytime soon. Oh, well.**

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE, I REPEAT, IMPORTANT MESSAGE: I just want to address something. I've noticed that my viewer count is really dwindling. For those of you who are thinking of quitting on me, I would just like you to tell me what is it about my story that you like/don't like? If you don't tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, then I can't improve! If you're tired of reading a shitty story, then HELP me by giving me a review or a PM to tell me where I went wrong. I want to make a good story, you want to read a good story. It's a win-win for both of us if you could just give me a review/PM telling me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. I can't improve if I don't know what's wrong. So help me out here people.**

**P.S: Alternatively, you could help me advertise and stuff like that. Give me some publicity people!**

**P.P.S: LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE EVER WRITTEN!**


	9. Chapter 9:Team Seven!

**A/N: I'm ALIVE!...I'm really sorry I took this long to update though. I was really busy for quite some time and I kinda lost my muse for quite a long while too. Damn Headstart programs... I also regret to inform everyone that I may not be updating very often, as I have school and work to juggle around with. I'm not gonna give up on this story, but just don't expect frequent updates. Anyways, thanks for the responses. I really appreciate it. Reviews are a fanfiction author's lifeblood y'know? So keep me and this story alive by continuing to give reviews. Thanks a lot! **

**Now, on to some other things. This chapter focuses mainly on the bell test and before that, a bit about the time in between. I'm going to try my best to start advancing the plot faster than before, so look forward to it people! Oh, and I may change this fanfiction's rating to M eventually due to swearing and...other things. I don't think I'll be writing any lemons though. Other than that, I don't have much to say.**

**And as a side note, I wish y'all a (early) Merry Christmas! And if you don't celebrate it, then enjoy what little holidays you have left!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**EDIT(9/26/2015): Skill names changed to better suit source material. Minor corrections.**

Normal talking: "I will never give up!"

Jutsus: "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu!)**"

Thinking/Dreams/Flashbacks: _"Who am I?"_

Bijuu/Summons: **_"Who dares to summon me?!"_**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Team Seven!**

_He reached his arms out as he limped pathetically on the damaged ground. His body was wracked with pain and he felt as if he was on fire. His aching muscle protested against his movements, but he didn't care. He had to reach her, he had to-_

_His thoughts were cut short when a fireball obliterated his friend, leaving not a trace of the girl who used to occupy the now scorched space. He dropped on his knees in despair as tears started to leak out. He screamed out in not only in anguish, but also in anger. Anger at the ones who killed his friend. And anger at himself, who was unable to save her. _

_He turned his head and saw the nuke-nin who launched the fireball standing a distance away from him, smirking arrogantly. Rage swelled within him like a volcano, threatening to erupt. His blood boiled even further when he saw more nuke-nin approach, all having similar expressions as the first rouge. _

_"_You...You did this! This is all your fault! You killed her! I-I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!" The nuke-nins just laughed at him. After all, what could one seven-year old child do to them? However, this only served to anger him further. His body started to heat up as a surge of rage pulsed forth from within him. He felt his body get hotter and hotter, while the nuke-nins were oblivious to this change.__

__And then, the fire raging in him exploded. A single word pealed in his mind. He screamed, and the land burned in the face of his fury.__

__"__▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅__"__

* * *

"OW!" Naruto shouted as he rubbed his head. He then glared at his teacher/friend. "You didn't have to punch THAT hard y'know..."

_**"Baka! You're supposed to be meditating, not sleeping! How do you expect to be able to use this if you fall asleep every time?!"**_

"I know that! It's just...Sitting around doing nothing but meditating is boring...Can't you teach me something cooler?" Naruto complained. After the incident with Mizuki and his subsequent gain of his genin rank, Salamander decided to reward him with a new technique. It was also a form of apology from her as she felt slightly sorry for not helping him the day before.

Needless to say, Naruto was excited when he learnt that he would be learning a new technique. That excitement died a quick, horrible, gory death when Salamander told him to sit down and meditate. She told him that if he lost focus, she would hit him. Hard. And she wasn't kidding too! Every time Naruto got distracted by something like a fly landing on his nose or a stray leaf tickling him, Salamander would immediately lash out with a quick swipe or slap.

_**"Shut up! This is a very useful technique, you're just too thick-headed to learn it as quickly as your other techniques! Now hurry up and get back to your**** meditation!"**_ Salamander retorted, smacking Naruto on his head.

Grumbling, Naruto did as she instructed.

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Is that so? So...The Jinchūriki learnt a technique from the Scroll of Sealing." Shimura Danzo said contemplatively.

"Hai, Danzo-sama. Your orders, sir?" A Root ANBU member inquired, his tone emotionless.

"Continue to observe the boy. If his abilities continue to show even more potential, then..." Danzo trailed off, considering the possibilities that the blond boy could have. He would've already had the boy in his ranks if it wasn't for that damnable Hiruzen! He could have made the boy into a fine weapon but that old monkey had to step in and forbid him from recruiting the Jinchūriki into his ranks.

_"No matter..."_ He thought to himself. _"If all goes well, Uzumaki Naruto will be in Root soon enough..."_

**(The next day...)**

Naruto sat across Sarutobi as the old Hokage looked through his Ninja Registration Form. He then put the slip of paper down, smiling in approval.

"I must admit Naruto, I'm surprised you didn't try to take a bizarre picture for your form."

"Eheheh. I just kinda thought that I should be a bit more mature after all that has happened. I'm a genin now after all!" Naruto said, proudly adjusting the hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead.

"Indeed." Sarutobi replied, nodding in approval. _"It seems that he really is starting to mature..."_

"Weeeell, there's also the fact that I misplaced the make-up and props I wanted to use. So, yeah, I had to settle for a normal one." Naruto admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

If he were standing, Sarutobi would have face-faulted. Instead, he settled for a deep sigh.

"I take back what I said, he hasn't changed one bit..." The old monkey muttered.

"FIGHT ME,YOU OLD GEEZER!" A young voice shouted out as the door slid open. A young boy with brown hair then charged at Sarutobi, a shuriken in his hand. He then tripped on his absurdly long scarf, falling forward onto the ground.

_"Seriously?! Even I'm not dumb enough to charge at Jiji while shouting! Just who is this kid anyway?!" _Naruto thought incredulously, right eye twitching.

"Ow..." The boy muttered as he picked himself up. He then looked around for someone to blame for his mess-up. Unfortunately for Naruto, the younger boy's eyes landed on him.

"It's your fault! You tripped me!" The boy claimed, pointing accusingly at Naruto.

"Wha-? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to you!" Naruto defended. "And besides, I'm sitting all the way over here! I couldn't possibility be able to trip you from here!"

"T-that's...I-I don't care!" The boy said, stumbling when he realized his folly. "A-A trap! That's it, you must have set a trap!"

"Shut up! Just admit it, it's your own fault you tripped!" Naruto retorted, grabbing the younger boy by his scarf.

"Let go of Omago-sama(Honorable Grandson) at once!" A man cried out, making his presence known. He was dressed in a standard Konoha shinobi outfit with hair covered by a hitai-ate worn in the form of a bandanna. His eyes were covered with a pair of sunglasses.

"Omago-sama? You mean this squirt?" Naruto nonchalantly asked, ignoring the indignant shout of "Hey, I'm not a squirt!" from the boy who was in his hand.

"S-squirt?!" How dare you address Omago-sama like that!"

"Huh? What's so great about this kid anyway?"

"Hmph. Allow me to educate you! Omago-sama is the grandson of Sandaime Hokage-sama, Sarutobi Konohamaru!" The man stated proudly.

"..." Naruto stayed silent.

"..." Sarutobi stayed silent.

"..." The bandanna-wearing man stayed silent.

"And I should care because...?" Naruto asked, deadpanning. His question caused everyone else but the boy in his grasp to face-fault in disbelief.

"So, he's Jiji's grandson, big deal! I'm not going to suddenly bow down to him and plead for his forgiveness. He hasn't done anything to warrant such respect from me." Naruto said, finally letting the Konohamaru go.

_"T-this guy...He...!"_

"Anyways, I'm going to go and train. Seeya, Jiji!" Naruto then walked off, ignoring the incredulous looks he got from the rest of the room's occupants.

**(I'm not going to write out the rest of this day so...Basically what happened afterwards is what happened in the anime/manga. So, um, yeah.)**

**(A couple of days later...)**

Satsuki stared out the window next to her as she idly played with a lock of her hair. She was currently waiting for Iruka to arrive in the classroom to announce the team arrangements. She honestly didn't really care about who her teammates were, so long as they wouldn't impede her progress towards defeating **that** man.

She glanced around the classroom in an attempt to entertain herself. Her potential teammates were chatting excitedly to each other, unaware of Satsuki's scrutiny. But most of them didn't really concern her. Her eyes flicked over to Shikamaru, who was sleeping on his desk as usual. Next to him were Ino and Chouji, the two talking about something.

She then looked to the far top-left corner of the room, where Hinata sat. For some reason, she had a worried look on her face.

_"I wonder what she could be so worried about..."_ Satsuki thought. She didn't really know what to think of the lavender-eyed Hyuuga. On one hand, her status as a Main-Branch Hyuuga would mean that her Taijutsu would at least be decent, making her a potentially valuable ally. Not to mention the fact that she had access to the Byakugan.

However, her timidity was slightly crippling to her performance. In places where it was possible for the bluenette to succeed, her low self-esteem would drag her down and cause her to mess up. To be honest, it made Satsuki worry.

_"Wait, worry? Why am I so concerned about her?"_ But before she could continue her train of thought, the door suddenly slammed open. To her surprise, a certain blond boy proudly strutted down the steps.

"Huh? Oi dobe, this meeting is only for those who graduated!" A random genin called out.

"Are you blind? How can you not see my hitai-ate?" Naruto mockingly asked. He then made his way to the seat to the right of Satsuki.

"Ohayo, Satsuki-chan!" He jubilantly greeted.

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto, huh?" A man said in a tone which was somehow bored yet intrigued at the same time.

"Hmm? You seem unusually interested Kakashi. Did something catch your eye?"

"Who knows?" The silver-haired man vaguely answered back, continuing to observe the blond boy. _"Sensei...Soon, I'll see if your son will be able to live up to your legacy..."_

Meanwhile, Sarutobi laced his fingers together as he stared contemplatively at the image projected within the crystal ball.

_"I wonder if placing them into the same team will turn out to be a good decision..."_

* * *

"Starting from today, you all are official ninjas. However, all of you are still fresh genin. It's only going to get harder from here. You all will be placed into teams of three, where you will accomplish missions under a Jōnin-sensei."

At that, the classroom sparked with excitement and chatter. From what he could gather from most of their conversations, Naruto observed that most of them wanted to know who was going to be in Satsuki's team.

Personally for Naruto, he didn't really care who was going to be in his team, so long as he was able to get along and work well together with them.

*A-HEM!* Iruka cleared his throat in an over-the-top manner, gathering everyone's attention again.

"Anyway, we've arranged the teams such that overall abilities are well-balanced and equivalent. Furthermore, we've taken into consideration on the compatibility of each teammate as you will all have to work well together and cooperate in order to complete missions. With that said, I will now announce the teams!"

**(After a while...)**

"-Next, Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka said, causing the blond to perk up.

_"This is it...I hope I get a good team!"_

"Uchiha Satsuki." He said. Naruto's eyes widened and he turned to look at the raven-haired girl, who seemed to be equally as surprised and for some reason, slightly pleased.

"And Hyuuga Hinata." The response was immediate. Shouts of disbelief and wails of despair at not being in the Uchiha's team rang across the room, while others just calmly waited for Iruka to move on.

*THUNK* And Hinata's response was to faint.

**(An hour later...)**

Naruto grumbled to himself as he sat in one of the class's chairs. While he had no qualms about his teammates, he was very, **very**, annoyed.

Why? Because all the other teams have been picked up by their respective teachers, yet his has yet to show up. The awkward silence permeating the room only exacerbated the situation.

"A-ano..." He heard someone say from behind him.

"Hmm?" He grunted as he turned around to see one of his new teammates.

"W-w-we'll be t-teammates f-from now on, s-so I...um...j-just w-wanted to...um..." Hinata stuttered out, pushing her index fingers against each other cutely.

"I-I hope we'll be able to work together!" She blurted out, bowing with her face red.

"Ah. I hope we'll be able to work together too." Naruto replied, returning her bow with one of his own.

"You too, Satsuki! I hope we'll be able to work together well!" He grinned, turning to Satsuki. Surprised at suddenly being addressed, all Satsuki could do was nod.

"Hmm...It seems that sensei isn't going to come anytime soon...You two wanna get some lunch with me?" Naruto asked.

"E-eh? B-but s-s-sensei m-might be mad if w-we aren't here w-when he c-comes..." Hinata weakly protested.

"True...I guess we'll just have to come back before then huh?"

"E-eh?! Y-you're still g-going to?"

"Yup. C'mon, we need to hurry if we want to have lunch before sensei comes!" Naruto said, grabbing Hinata's hand which caused her to blush (again). He then turned towards Satsuki. "You come too, Satsuki!"

"Eh? Me?" She asked.

"No, I was asking the other raven-haired girl called Satsuki." Naruto deadpanned. He then grabbed her hand as well and began dragging the two towards the direction of a certain restaurant.

"Wha-H-hey I-" Satsuki started.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, you're part of this team too. The three of us need to stick together!"

**(A while later...)**

"Yo, Teuchi-Jiji! I've brought some friends over!" Naruto jubilantly announced.

"Oh, Naruto! Long time no see!" Teuchi replied. His eyes then briefly widened when he saw Hinata.

"Naruto, first the Uchiha heiress, and now the Hyuuga heiress? You sure are aiming high aren't you?" Teuchi joked.

"Eh? What do you mean? Anyway, from now on, the three of us are a team so I brought them over to have some lunch!"

"Team? I see..." Teuchi said, turning away. "Oi, Ayame! Naruto's here and he brought some friends!"

**(Meanwhile...)**

Kakashi watched his new team from afar as they consumed their noodles. Seeing them joke and bond like they were currently doing, it gave Kakashi a small glimmer of hope.

"Maybe this team will be the one who'll understand the lessons you have taught me, huh sensei?" He mused. There were many aspiring genin teams that he had tested, but none of them had passed his test. They all failed to realize the importance of teamwork, instead trying to get the bells solo. But maybe this team might be able to understand the lesson. Maybe.

_"Well, I guess I better start..."_ He thought as he approached the three genin.

"Sheesh, you all are really making my life tough you know..."

"Eh? Who are you?" Naruto questioned, intrigued by the sudden approach of the silver-haired man.

"Now, now, that's no one to greet someone is it? Especially when that someone is supposed to be your sensei."

"Ah, I see. Sorry about that..." Naruto sheepishly replied, turning back to his ramen as his brain processed what Kakashi just said.

"EHHHHHH?!" Naruto, and surprisingly Satsuki and Hinata too, shouted in disbelief when they realized what Kakashi had said.

**(Thirty minutes later...)**

Naruto, Satsuki, Hinata and Kakashi were now assembled at the Third Training Ground. It was a place with lush greenery and a quiet, sparkling lake. There was a view of mountains in the landscape and a large and deep river with forests in both of its sides. They were currently standing in a glade with three stumps in the center.

"Now then, let's begin with introductions shall we?" Kakashi started. "Things like your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future. Blondie, you go first."

Slightly annoyed at being referred to as "Blondie" Naruto grumbled under his breath. He then sighed and started his introduction.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, cooking and training. I dislike...Well, I don't really dislike much other than waiting for my ramen to cook. Oh, and people who judge others for things outside of their control. I guess my hobby would be training. And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage the world has ever seen!' He proudly proclaimed.

_"Hmm...He sure grew up interestingly..."_

"Alright, you next." Kakashi said, pointing at Hinata.

"H-hai. I-I'm Hyuuga H-Hinata. I l-like eating c-c-cinnamon r-rolls. I d-dislike p-people w-who abuse t-their power. M-my hobby is p-pressing f-flowers. M-my dream is t-to change t-the ways of m-my clan." She stuttered out.

_"Hmm...Awfully shy for a Hyuuga. And that stutter kinda shows that she has a self-esteem problem. Might need to work on that."_

"Alright. Your turn." Kakashi said, gesturing to Satsuki.

"My name is Uchiha Satsuki. I like tomatoes and training. I dislike people who run their mouths off and being weak. My hobby is training and taking walks. My dream-No, my ambition is to revive my clan...and find a certain man so that I can get some answers."

_"Get some answers? I expected her to be an avenger. Could it be that befriending **him** was enough to influence her?"_

"I suppose it's my turn then. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no interest in telling you my likes and dislikes. My hobby is reading. As for my dream..." He trailed off. "Not telling you."

_"In the end, all we learnt was his name..."_ Naruto thought as he irately at Kakashi. From the look on Satsuki's face, she was thinking the same thing. Even Hinata had a slightly disappointed look on hers.

"Alright, the three of you all have unique personalities. I like that. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow."

"Really?! What kind of mission will it be?" Naruto excitedly asked.

"First, we'll be doing something that we four can do."

"Which is...?"

"Survival Training."

"S-survival Training?" Naruto parroted.

"Why are we going to train when it's a mission?" Satsuki asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Because this is no ordinary training!"

"N-no o-ordinary t-training? T-then, what k-kind of t-training is it?"

"Hmhmhmhmhm." Kakashi chuckled.

"Eh? What's so funny sensei?"

"Oh it's just, if I tell you, the three of you are going to be surprised."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"You see, out of twenty-seven graduates, only nine are going to become genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a 66% drop-out rate."

Naruto's mouth widened in shock, Satsuki's eyes narrowed, while Hinata gasped.

"See? You guys are surprised aren't you?!"

"N-no way! After all that trouble I went through-Then what was that final exam for?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Oh that? That just picks out those who are qualified to become genin."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm not. Anyway, I'm going to determine whether you pass or fail tomorrow at this training ground. Bring any equipment you think you may need and meet here at 5 A.M tomorrow!"

_"I'm not going to be dropped off by something like this, not after what I've been through!"_ Naruto thought determinedly to himself.

_"If I fail this test, Otou-sama will surely punish me. Not to mention the elders..." _

_"Hn. Something like this won't keep me who my goal."_

"Now then, you are all dismissed." Kakashi said as he turned to leave. "Oh yeah, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up if you do."

**(Later that night...)**

Naruto laid down on his bed, relaxing his muscles after a long session of training. Salamander took a seat in a chair next to his bed.

_**"So you're going to have another test** **huh?"**_She asked.

"Yeah. I wonder what's it going to be like though..."

_**"I wouldn't know. Anyway, you should rest. You need to wake up early tomorrow after**** all."** _And with that, she left the room.

"I know. Oyasumi, Salamander." Naruto said, yawning loudly before closing his eyes. However, he could not help but notice that Salamander was acting slightly different than usual.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Salamander was lost in thought as she sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. She was slightly worried and curious about Naruto's future.

_**"At the rate he's progressing, he will undoubtedly become a force to reckon with on the battlefield. But with the threat of those people looming about, I wonder if he'll be able to reach that point..."** _ She mused. Ever since Naruto was attacked a few years ago, she had been a bit more cautious. With an unknown organization like the one Budou had hailed from, there was no knowing what their motives were.

_**"I guess I can only hope that that man would be able to protect**** Naruto."**_ The man did seem to have seen many battles, and the look in the silver-haired man's eyes...It showed the amount of experience Naruto's new sensei had. She should know. She had met him earlier after all.

* * *

**(Earlier that day...)**

_"So this is Naruto's apartment..."_

_"Satsuki, the one from the Uchiha clan, will also be in your team. I wish you luck."_

_**"So you're the one that's going to teach my student huh?"**_

_"Who's there?" Kakashi and Sarutobi both asked in shock._

_**"I'm over here."**_ _The two men looked over and to their surprise, they saw a young, dark skinned girl with red hair standing near the doorway._

_"Who are you?" Kakashi asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion._

**_"Me? I'm...I guess you could call me his mentor."_**

_"Mentor?" Kakashi asked in curiosity, while Sarutobi's eyes widened in realization. _

_"Those sword techniques Naruto displayed while fighting Mizuki...You taught him those didn't you?"_

**_"Exactly."_**

_"I see...I believe we have much to discuss then."_

* * *

**(The next day...)**

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto angrily shouted, pointing accusingly at Kakashi.

"Sorry, you see, a black cat crossed my path so I-"

"Shut up, liar! Let's just get this over with!"

"R-right. Let's move on." Kakashi said, moving towards one of the three stumps in the glade and placing a clock on it.

"This clock is set to noon. Today's objective is to get one of these bells from me. Whoever can't will not eat lunch."

"E-eh?!"

"I'll tie the losers to one of those stumps and eat lunch in front of you."

"A-ano...Kakashi-sensei, w-why a-a-are there o-only t-two b-bells?"

"Since there are only two bells, at least one of you will be tied to a log." Kakashi stated, a sly look appearing in his eye. "Furthermore, the person will fail as he or she failed to complete the mission. That person will go back to the Academy. It might be one of you, or it might be all three of you. Who knows?"

"Only two bells huh? I have to get one of them...But I don't really want Hinata-chan or Satsuki-chan to be sent back to the Academy." Naruto mused. "What should I do?"

"You can all use your kunai, shuriken, and any other tools at your disposal. You won't be able to get these bells if you don't come at me with the intent to kill after all. Now then, let's begin. Ready, start!"

Immediately the three disappeared from sight, hiding in their separate locations.

_"Hmm...Not bad, even Naruto had the sense to hide first. I guess I'll have to wait, huh?" _

**(A few minutes later...)**

Kakashi calmly walked around the forested part of the training ground, giggling perversely to himself. Suddenly, he heard the sound of something moving through the air towards him. He swiftly leaped up, dodging the kunais that embedded themselves on the ground where he once stood.

"Too bad huh?" He nonchalantly said as he turned to the next page of his book.

"**Raitei Suiryoku (Thunder Thrust)**!" Kakashi heard someone shout. He rolled to his left, dodging the wooden blade.

"Oh? It seems that your little plan has failed." Kakashi taunted. His only reply was a slash, which he dodged. Naruto continued on with his onslaught of slashes, stabs and kicks, but Kakashi dodged most of them blocking those which he couldn't.

_"Not bad for a fresh genin. Guess I'll have to take him a bit more seriously."_

Kicking it up a notch, Kakashi went on the offensive, jabbing at Naruto's midsection. Caught off guard by the sudden shift in pattern, and due to Kakashi's speed, Naruto stumbled backwards.

"Hmm...You're quicker than I expected. More skilled too. However...You're still way too unskilled to beat me. Guess I should expect too much from a dead-last huh?" Kakashi sneered. _"This should set him off..."_

Naruto's eyes widened, then narrowed. He tightened his grip on his bokken and prepared to attack. Rushing forward, Naruto lunged at the silver-haired Jounin.

"**Maken Kubikari (Demon Decapitation)!**" Naruto shouted, aiming for Kakashi's neck.

_"So this is one of his sword skills, huh?"_ Kakashi thought, observing Naruto's form. That girl in Naruto's home had supposedly taught him an unrecorded and unique style of swordsmanship, which made Kakashi slightly suspicious at first.

_"Especially when the style has such an ominous name..."_

Kakashi ducked underneath the decapitating technique, then did a leg sweep. Naruto, managing to dodge by a hair's breadth, leapt over the attack and into some trees. Naruto threw five kunai at the silver-haired cyclops, all of which were easily dodged.

"Looks like you still can't b-" "**Tenmazugaizan (Demon Skull Beheading)**!" Naruto shouted, cutting Kakashi off. The attack landed with a loud smack, and the Jounin collapsed on to the ground. And turned into a log.

"Y'know, you really shouldn't let your enemy get behind you..."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he looked behind him to see Kakashi squatting behind him...With his fingers forming a Tiger seal. From the sidelines, Hinata gasped and Satsuki's eyes narrowed.

_"That's a seal for Katon jutsus! Naruto-kun's in danger!" _Hinata thought in worry. Just as she about to warn Naruto, a few shuriken shot past her and streaked towards Kakashi.

Eyes widening, Kakashi swiftly leaped backwards, the shuriken embedding themselves uselessly on the ground. Kakashi, Naruto and Hinata turned and saw Satsuki charging forward. She lashed out with a kick at Kakashi's shin, which he easily dodged. She then tried to launch a punch at his solar plexus, but the sliver-haired man swiftly grabbed her arm before she could react.

"My, my, aren't you feisty?" Kakashi asked mockingly. "I suppose I could start lesson one, Taijutsu, wouldn't you say?"

Kakashi then pulled Satsuki towards him and kneed her in the gut. Or he would have, had he not have to dodge a wooden blade. Letting go of the Uchiha heiress, Kakashi leaped backwards, Satsuki falling forwards to the ground.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" In a burst of smoke, twelve orange-wearing clones appeared, bokkens readied. Kakashi's eyes narrowed, assessing his situation.

_"The _**_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_**_? This must the Kinjutsu he used to beat Mizuki, huh? From what I see, he's surprisingly proficient with it."_

Meanwhile, with Kakashi distracted, Naruto offered a hand to Satsuki. "You alright?" He asked. Eyes widening, Satsuki stared at Naruto for awhile, slapping away his hand.

"I-I don't need your help!" She claimed, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Picking herself up, Satsuki saw Kakashi finishing off the last clone, ignoring Naruto's disappointed stare.

Seeing this, Kakashi frowned. _"Looks like she might be a tough one to crack..."_

"If you're done having your lover's spat, shall we continue?" Kakashi nonchalantly asked, smirking slightly when the two Genins' faces broke out into a mild blush.

"HE'S/SHE'S NOT MY LOVER!" They both exclaimed in sync, desperately hiding their blushes from each another. Noticing that they shouted at the same time, Naruto and Satsuki narrowed their eyes and glared at each other.

"Stop copying me!" They both shouted at the same time.

"I said stop!" They both exclaimed in sync once again. Both getting irritated, Naruto and Satsuki gritted their teeth and growled at each other, garnering sweatdrops from both Kakashi and Hinata.

_"Those two are really in sync with one another...Even if they don't realize it."_ Kakashi thought as he viewed the slightly comedic scene before him.

"Well whatever, I don't need your help, so you stand stay here and watch me take the bells!" Satsuki proudly proclaimed.

"Haaaa? I'm sorry, but I'm gonna be the one who takes the bells!" Naruto shot back.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Actually, neither of you are going to get even a single bell if you both keep arguing like that. But, feel free to continue. It makes my job a lot easier that way." Kakashi quipped, interrupting the childish argument before it could escalate.

"And besides, the two of you really need to be more attentive..."

"Eh?" The two genin said, before turning around and seeing another Kakashi behind them.

_"When did he-?!"_ Naruto thought, before he tried to punch the Kakashi behind him. His attempt failed, however, as the second Kakashi swiftly grabbed both his and Satsuki's wrists and twisted their arms behind them.

_"Now then, how will the last one react?" _Kakashi thought, glancing at Hinata's hiding spot. Suddenly, a few kunai shot out from the bushes. They embedded themselves within the second Kakashi's back, making it disappear in a small puff of smoke.

Hinata ran forward, concern for her two teammates clear in her lavender-tinted eyes.

"A-are the two of y-you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Nice save, Hinata!" Naruto praised, grinning at the bluenette.

"A-Arigato..." Satsuki stuttered out, her bruised pride refusing to let her say anymore.

_"Hmmm. It seems that the Hyuuga might be the one who will help keep those two in order..."_ Kakashi thought, observing the now-complete team of Genins.

"Well, that's nice and all, but you all do realize that you're running out of time right?" Kakashi reminded the trio. Remembering their situation, the three turned back to the sliver-haired man.

"Do the two of you have any plans?" Naruto asked, glancing at the two girls. It was becoming extremely apparent to him that he would not be able to beat the Jounin alone.

"A-Ano... P-Perhaps we c-could r-retreat to p-plan our n-next move? K-Kakashi-sensei is a Jōnin a-after all. I-It might b-be e-easier if w-we collaborated with one a-another and c-come up with a plan of action." Hinata shyly suggested, timidly raising her hand as if she was in a classroom.

"If that's the case, then..." Naruto trailed off, before putting his fingers in a familiar seal.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" He shouted. Five clones then shot off towards Kakashi, which Kakashi easily disposed of. Kakashi then raised an eyebrow when he saw that the three were still standing there.

"Oh? Now, then which one of you are next?" He asked, but then he noticed something peculiar. Satsuki and Hinata were acting slightly off. Mainly because they were in the exactly same stance as Naruto, instead of their own respective ones. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Kakashi decided to test something.

"Hey you three, do you what I hate the most?" Kakashi asked. Shaking their heads, the three tilted their heads in confusion. Leaning in, Kakashi did an eye-smile.

"I hate ramen." With that simple comment the three flew into a rage, screaming and shouting against the "blasphemy against the food of the gods".

_"Knew it."_

**(Meanwhile...)**

"Yosh, this should be far enough." Naruto said, letting go of the two girls.

"Now then, what's the pla-" Naruto stopped, noticing Hinata's crimson red face. "Erm...Hinata? You alright?" He asked.

Not trusting herself to speak, Hinata just nodded. _"N-Naruto-kun g-grabbed my hand!" _She thought.

Tilting his head in confusion, Naruto then shrugged it off and turned towards Satsuki.

"Do you have any idea what to do next?" He asked.

"Those clones of yours... They're solid right?" Satsuki asked, to which Naruto nodded.

"How many can you make?"

"Erm...A lot. I haven't tested out my limit yet, but the most I've made so far was a couple of hundred I think..."

"In that case, I _may _have a plan then..." She then said, smirking.

**(One diabolical planning later...)**

Kakashi lazily flipped a page of his book as he waited for his would-be students to come to him. By his estimation, they only had about half an hour before noon. A sudden rustle from among the bushes made Kakashi glance towards them. Naruto came rushing out, bokken at the ready.

_"Hmm? After all that talk of planning, he came out alone? Something's up here..."_

Kakashi swiftly dodged a few slash before throwing a few kunais at the blond boy. Naruto easily dodged the projectiles, but was met with a kick to the gut. "Naruto" then disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing it to be a **Kage Bunshin**. Sensing an attack from behind, Kakashi rolled to the left and turned around with a kick, which met with the wood of Naruto's bokken with a resounding smack. A flurry of kunai and shuriken then came streaming down from above, forcing Kakashi to jump back.

Kakashi turned his head to look in the direction where the weapons came from to see multiple clones of Naruto, Satsuki and Hinata swarming in from among the foliage.

_"So that's their big plan? Swarming?"_ Kakashi though, slightly disappointed by the simplistic plan. _"Still, there are too many of them for me to see which ones are the real ones..."_

Dodging a flurry of strikes and slashes from a group of clones, Kakashi did a leg sweep which caused the clones to fall down and dispel. He then blocked a punch from a Satsuki clone with his palm and pulled her towards him, before releasing her and stepping away, letting her collide with a group of clones.

"**Raitei Suiryoku**!" Two Naruto clones shouted, charging towards the silver-haired Jounin. Kakashi leapt up, causing the two to hit each other and thus dispel.

"**Tenmazugaizan**!" Yelled a Naruto clone, leaping down from a branch. Reacting quickly, Kakashi replaced himself with a random clone before dashing away towards the tree line.

However, when he saw the clones smirk, he immediately grew suspicious and craned his head back to see two trees burst into smoke to reveal Satsuki and Hinata. The two made a lunge towards the bells on Kakashi's belt. Eyes widening in surprise, Kakashi tried to leap away from the girls. However, he was suddenly grabbed by multiple clones, thus making him unable to escape.

"Satsuki, Hinata now-"

**"BRRRIIINNNGGGG!"**

Just as Satsuki and Hinata's hands brushed against the bells, the clock's alarm rang, causing everyone to widen their eyes in shock.

"Kuso! We couldn't make it?!" Naruto shouted in frustration. Hinata looked down in disappointment and shame while Satsuki clicked her tongue. Sighing in defeat, Naruto brought his hands together to dispel his clones, causing Kakashi to widen his eyes.

_"With that many **Kage Bunshin** out, he-"_ "Naruto, wait!" Kakashi shouted. Sadly, he was too late, as all the clones disappeared with one collective burst of smoke.

"Ah!" Naruto shouted in pain as the memory backlash set in, causing him to hold in head in pain.

"Dobe/Naruto-kun, what's wrong?!" Satsuki and Hinata both asked in unison, surprised at Naruto's sudden shout. Naruto collapsed on the ground, the last thing he saw was the image of Satsuki and Hinata looking down on him with concern before his world faded away.

* * *

**A/N:...Right. Welp, that's the end of the chapter. Liked it? Hated it? Want to kill me cause I took so long? Leave a review to let me know. I'm gonna try my best to push out Chapter 11, hopefully before I get too busy with school. I'm should be jumping right into the Wave Arc next chapter, so look forward to that. Again, please leave a review to let me know your opinions. Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10:Off To Wave

**A/N: Hey. Sorry for being gone for so long. I originally had a paragraph of spiel about how I was being so busy with work and exams, but now I think it's pretty damn useless at this point. Thanks for the responses, it's nice to know that people still read this despite my rather long absence.**

**Also, some of you might have noticed that I deleted Chapter 2. Why? Because I honestly have no idea why I thought that would work. I thought about it long and hard, and I decided that I mostly likely won't be able to make it come into play later on. Hence the deletion. Like I said above, all that you see is totally off the top of my head. I just let the words flow.**

**Anyways, I've also done a bit of editing on the previous chapters by the way, which helped alleviate a bit of the writer's block I've been having. Keyword: A bit. There were quite a lot of mistakes that I'm surprised no one picked up. That, or they did and didn't bother telling me. But I digress. As I said, we're jumping right in to the Wave Arc now, so please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other concepts/song/whatever that may appear in this fanfiction. They all belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Off To Wave**

"Gah!" Naruto shouted as he fell into the chilling water. He was currently in _Nami no Kuni(Land of Waves)_, attempting to master walking on water. Needless to say, so far his attempts were mostly fruitless.

It has been a few weeks after the formation of Team Seven. After Naruto had blacked out, Kakashi dismissed Satsuki and Hinata and took Naruto home, leaving him in Salamander's care. After he woke up, Salamander told him what had transpired after he fell unconscious(and slapped him around a bit too, for being so reckless). After all was said and done, Naruto began doing menial task in the form of D-Rank missions with his team the next day. Needless to say, all three of the genin were disappointed with the standard of missions they were given.

Getting fed up with the D-Ranks, Naruto "politely requested" (read: loudly demanded) for a harder mission. His "request" was answered, and Team Seven met their new client, the bridge builder Tazuna. After a brief argument between Naruto and Tazuna about whether or not Team Seven were capable enough to handle the mission, in which Kakashi reassured the bridge builder that they were indeed able to, Team Seven set off on their first C-Rank mission.

However, not long after leaving Konoha's gates, they were ambushed by two chūnin. They were the infamous _Oni Kyōdai(Demon Brothers), _Gōzu and Meizu. Both of them had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair, dark eyes and a re-breather covered the lower half of their faces. They wielded their trademark clawed, poisonous gauntlets on their right and left hands respectively, which were attached to each other by a long metal chain. They wore matching camouflage suits with bandages around their waists, dark-coloured, knee-length sandals and equally ragged black capes. They both had scratched Kirigakure hitai-ates, signifying their status as nuke-nins. However, Gōzu's hitai-ate had a single horn on it, while Meizu's had two.

They promptly "killed" Kakashi, not realizing that he had replaced himself with a log. They then attacked Naruto, who managed to dodge their attacks. Satsuki then trapped their chains with a shuriken and a kunai forcing them to release the chains from their gauntlets. However, in the time taken to release their gauntlets, Naruto had already gotten in a position to strike.

He swiftly used** Raitei Suiryoku**, plunging his new katana (which was bestowed upon him by Salamander as a reward for passing Kakashi's test) into Gōzu's chest-who was unprepared for the attack-, killing him. Enraged by the loss of his brother, Meizu swiped wildly at Naruto with his clawed gauntlet. However, Kakashi then stepped in, swiftly incapacitating the furious nuke-nin.

After waking up and interrogating the nuke-nin, Kakashi found out that their target was Tazuna. Kakashi confronted the old bridge builder, who then told them the whole story about how country was being oppressed by the shipping magnate Gatō and about how if he could finish his bridge, it would save his country.

Kakashi, despite wanting to end the mission to prevent his students from being further endangered, asked for the genins' opinions. Touched by Tazuna's story, Naruto wanted to continue the mission. Satsuki and Hinata both agreed with him, not wanting their first mission outside of Konoha end up in failure and not willing to abandon Tazuna in his time of need. Deciding to continue, Kakashi sent a messenger bird explaining their circumstances back to Konoha.

After crossing the river and entering _Nami no Kuni,_ they were ambushed again, this time by S-Rank nuke-nin Momochi Zabuza, also know as the _Kirigakure no Kijin(Demon of the Hidden Mist)_. After a brief altercation, Kakashi was trapped by Zabuza's **Suirō no Jutsu(Water Prison Technique)**. Naruto and Satsuki quickly devised a plan making use of Naruto's** Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** as well as the **Kage Shuriken no Jutsu(Shadow Shuriken Technique)** which forced Zabuza to break his jutsu. Suddenly, Zabuza's neck was pierced by a few senbon, which lead to Zabuza's "death". A Kirigakure _Oinin(Hunter-nin)_ then appeared from the trees and then took away Zabuza's corpse. Team Seven then successfully managed to escort Tazuna to his home, where they were warmly welcomed by Tazuna's daughter Nami. They later came to the conclusion that Zabuza was most likely still alive, due to the circumstances surrounding his supposed death, as well as the fact that the Oinin did not dispose of the body.

They also met Inari, Nami's son and Tazuna's grandson. The child bitterly stated that it was impossible for Team Seven to win against Gatō and that they were on a suicide mission. Later on, Naruto noticed Inari crying in his room. At that moment, Naruto started to understand why the small boy was so bitter.

The next day, after training, Inari stormed off after Naruto asked about a torn photograph hung on the wall. He and the other ninja then learnt about what had happened to Kaiza, Inari's stepfather. Desiring to change Inari's outlook on the world, Naruto went out and continued to train. However, his already-tired body eventually gave out and he fell asleep in the forest.

He was then awakened by a beauty with long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes and a slender frame who was garbed in a pink, sleeveless kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-coloured swirls.

Naruto then helped the girl, who introduced herself as Haku, collect herbs. Then, Haku posed a question to Naruto after he told her why he was sleeping on the ground like he was.

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

_"Why do you desire strength?" She asked. _

_"Huh? Well, to tell you the truth, all I wanted at first was simply recognition. I wanted everyone in the village to acknowledge me, to accept that I could be as good as all the previous Hokage. But now, it's...different. I...want to protect those around me. My teammates, my friends, my teachers, Jiji, all of them. So I guess, I want to grow stronger so that I can make sure that they'd be safe. Or at least, that's what I think I should work towards." Naruto replied, a contemplative look on his face._

_Haku smiled and nodded in approval. "That's a good reason."_

_"Ehehe, really? I thought I sounded a bit cheesy there." Naruto bashfully said, rubbing the back of his head in mild embarrassment._

_"When a person… has something important they want to protect… that's when they can become truly strong. That's what I believe." _

_"Something important..."_

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

Naruto sighed as he laid flat on the ground, taking a break from his training. His conversation with Haku had been swirling around in his head for quite some time as he mulled over her words.

**"****_His _**_words."_ He amended in his head. Needless to say, Naruto was utterly flabbergasted when he learned that the fair beauty he had encountered was actually a male.

Naruto pushed himself up, as he refocused his attention on his training. Kakashi was busy training Satsuki and Hinata in the Tree Walking exercise, which he had already learnt. Thus, Kakashi had given him a different exercise:Water walking. Due to his rather large reserves, he was struggling to stay above the water for more than a couple of minutes.

Still, as he was able to master tree walking, he was sure that it wouldn't be too hard for him to master water walking as well. After all how hard could it be?

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

"ACHOO!" Naruto sneezed as he wrapped the warm blanket tighter against him. "Ugh...Why did the water have to be so cold..."

"Mah mah, you could've stopped when the sun fell you know." Kakashi teased, making Naruto snort.

"And give up? No way! I'll get this dang thing down, you just wai-Achoo!"

Meanwhile, Satsuki and Hinata were helping Tsunami clean the dishes after dinner. Looking at Naruto's antics, Satsuki could only shake her head and sigh.

"Such an idiot." Satsuki muttered. However, Naruto heard her and jumped up.

"Oh yeah? Well, it's not like you've managed to master tree walking! Me and Hinata already have!" Naruto retorted, pointing an accusing finger at the Uchiha.

"T-that...Well, you had a head-start and Hinata is a Hyuuga! They're meant to have good chakra control!"

"Admit it, I'm just better!" Naruto taunted.

"As if!" Satsuki scoffed.

"N-Naruto-kun, Satsuki-chan, p-please stop a-arguing!" Hinata meekly pleaded.

Kakashi silently chuckled to himself as he watched the scene before him. They were kinda like his old team. Well, if he had been a girl that is. Or if Rin had been much more shyer and meeker. Or if Obito had been a Jinchūriki. On second thought, maybe they weren't really like his old team at all.

"They're pretty lively, huh?" A gruff voice behind him asked. Kakashi turned around to see Tazuna wistfully staring at the three Genin.

"I guess you could say that." Kakashi casually replied.

"Do you think they'll be able to handle them? Zabuza and his accomplice, I mean."

"If I didn't think they could, I wouldn't have allowed them to continue the mission. Besides, they'll only have to concern themselves with that fake hunter-nin and protecting you. I'll deal with Zabuza." Kakashi confidently answered. _"My calculations are correct, then I should have at least two weeks to get them up to snuff. Shouldn't be too hard. Their teamwork is more than enough now too, especially after that last encounter with Zabuza."_ He thought, remembering how Naruto and Satsuki had disobeyed his orders to run away and instead managed to free him.

"Alright, then let's make it a competition!" Naruto suddenly shouted, making Kakashi refocus his attention on his students.

"Haah? What are you going on about?" Satsuki asked.

"It's just like how it sounds like, a competition between you and me! If I master water walking first, I win! If you master tree walking first, then you win!" Naruto declared.

"Hnn? You think you can beat me? Need I remind you who was Rookie of the Year and who was the dead-last?"

"T-that doesn't matter!"

"Yes it does!"

"Does not!"

_"...Then again, looks like they've still got a long way to go."_ Kakashi thought, deadpanning at his two bickering students. He then got an idea.

"Alright you two, settle down. If you're going to make it a competition, you're going to need a reward."

"Eh?/Huh?" Naruto and Satsuki asked respectively.

"I guess I did forget about that..." Naruto mused.

"Hn. Idiot, how could you challenged me without a wager?" Satsuki scolded.

"W-well, you forgot about it too!" countered the blond.

"Ahem!" Kakashi cleared his throat before the two started bickering again. "As I was saying, there needs to be a reward. In which I have the perfect idea for one! Whoever wins this competition of yours, will learn a C-Rank jutsu from me!" The cyclops announced. As expected, the two genins' eyes shined in excitement.

"Of course, I won't leave you out either." Kakashi said, gesturing to Hinata. "While these two compete, I'll be teaching you a jutsu as well."

"What? Why does she get one right off the bat?" protested Naruto, making Kakashi giving him one of his eye-smiles.

"Because she's the most mature one out of all of you. While the two of you were bickering, she was the one trying to break the two of you up."

"Ah c'mon!" Naruto whined.

_**Days to Zabuza's recovery: 14**_

* * *

_**Day 1**_

Naruto: Gah! Not again...

Satsuki: I'm a quite a bit further up than last time.

Hinata: The paper got wet?

Zabuza: Tch, my neck's still feeling stiff.

* * *

_**Day 2**_

Naruto: Focus...Focus...Ah!

Satsuki: I'm making more progress.

Hinata: How do make the leaf dry?

Kakashi: Eheheheh Mai-chan, how naughty!

* * *

_**Day 3**_

Naruto: I can finally stand now! ...But Sensei said that I needed to learn how to fight on it too. Hmm... Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!

Satsuki: I only have a few branches left to clear!

Hinata: This is harder than it seems...

Haku: Ah! Zabuza-sama, you shouldn't get up yet!

* * *

_**Day 4**_

Naruto's eye twitched. So did Satsuki's. The two had been working their hardest to win their little competition, but in the end it was a draw. Naruto and Satsuki had both barged in on Kakashi, who was reading his Icha-Icha(What else?), before noticing each other's presence. Which led to their current argument...

"I got here first!" Naruto loudly declared, pointing at himself.

"Hah, as if! But I guess only an idiot like you can't notice that I was first." Satsuki venomously shot back.

"Why you!" Naruto said before being held back by Kakashi.

"Mah, mah, calm down both of you." Kakashi calmly said. _"To be honest, I guess I should've expected this huh?"_

"Now then, why don't the two of you follow me?"

"Eh?/Huh?" Naruto and Satsuki asked in tandem.

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

**Short Side Story(SSS): Immature**

As we walked to wherever the hell our crazy teacher was leading us to, I took a moment to mull over my actions these past few days.

Why was I being so immature? I thought to myself.

Getting into a race? Making bets? That wasn't something a heiress should be doing! This is unbecoming of an Uchiha! I should be calm and cool! My only objective should've been trying to get stronger so that I can beat Nii-I stopped myself. There was no way I was ever calling that traitor my brother ever again. That aside, I should be trying to quickly improve myself so that I could beat him down and get some answers.

And yet, here I was, getting into petty squabbles and fights. How ridiculous.

Uzumaki Naruto...It's all his fault dammit! Just what is it about him that makes me so...so...

So...Free? Why is it that when I'm with him, I just forget to be cold to others?

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

Hinata sighed as she finally completed the first part of her training. When she found out that her Chakra Nature was mostly Water instead of Earth, she was shocked to say the least, as her family was known to predominantly to have Earth affinities. Sure, there were a few cases of her clansmen having different Chakra Natures, but with her being the heiress, she thought that she would have been at least have a strong Earth affinity. Instead, she had a strong Water affinity with only a minor Earth affinity.

"Otou-sama might be displeased when he finds out..." Hinata mused.

"Find out what?" A voice next to her asked, breaking her from her train of thought.

"E-eep! W-when did y-you get h-here?" The dark-haired girl squeaked in surprise, not noticing her crush's presence.

"Not too long ago." Naruto casually replied. "Anyways, what were you talking about to yourself?"

"E-eh? A-ah, it's nothing!" She frantically said, waving her arms.

"Really? You seemed really troubled though..." Naruto asked, a concerned look on his face.

"R-really, it's n-nothing!" She squeaked.

"Oi dobe, there's no need to keep asking her if she insists that she's alright." Satsuki said, annoyed for reasons she couldn't explain.

"Hmm...Well, if you say so Hinata." Naruto said before turning to Kakashi. "So why did you want us to come here Sensei?" He asked, drawing the other genins attention as well.

"Well, seeing as you both got to me at the same time, I guess I have no choice but to teach you both a jutsu huh?" Kakashi casually said, causing Naruto to grin and Satsuki to smirk.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. He was then handed a slip of paper by Kakashi. A glance to the side told him that Satsuki got one as well.

"Sensei, what are these?" Naruto asked as he looked at the piece of paper in his hand.

"Those slips of paper I just gave the two of you are chakra paper. By channeling your chakra into the paper, it can tell what elemental affinities you have." Kakashi explained. "Now then, go ahead and channel some chakra into it."

The two genin did as instructed, channeling chakra into the slips of paper. Almost instantly, the papers reacted. Satsuki's started to wrinkle, with a corner igniting into a flame that quickly spread to other parts of the paper. Meanwhile, Naruto's was promptly cut in half, with both halves bursting into flames. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow in interest as he regarded the reactions of the now burnt away chakra papers.

_"Lightning...Unusual for an Uchiha. Fire was to be expected though._" He thought. _"Naruto on the other hand...Wind AND Fire. Quite a volatile combination."_

"It looks like the two of you have something in common!" Kakashi teased. "Both of you have a Fire affinity. Satsuki has a Lightning affinity while Naruto has Wind. You're lucky Naruto, Fire and Wind can work well together!" Naruto cheered at the news while Satsuki was lost in thought.

"Alright then, I'm going to start teaching the two of you the basics first." Kakashi started as he picked two leaves from a nearby tree. "Satsuki, you already know the basics for Fire, so I'll start you off on Lightning. You will need channel your chakra into the leaf and make it wilt. If done correctly, you should see an effect similar to what happened to that chakra paper just now. The challenge for you here it that you must ensure that the leaf does not catch fire, for if it does, that means that you're doing Fire instead of Lightning." He instructed, handing a leaf to the black-haired genin.

"As for you Naruto, you will need to cut this leaf in half using your chakra. It should be completely bisected if you're doing it right." The jōnin instructed, handing Naruto a leaf as well.

"Now then, I'll leave the two of you to figure out how to do it by yourselves! As for Hinata, time to move on to the second stage."

And so, the genin set off to train.

_**Days left to Zabuza's recovery:10**_

* * *

_**Remainder of Day 4**_

Naruto: How in the world am I supposed to cut a leaf with chakra?! Dammit, Kakashi-sensei get back here and do your job!

Satsuki: Tch, it's on fire again...

Hinata: Making water hit hard is more difficult than it seems...

* * *

_**Day 5**_

Naruto: Grr! This is starting to get irritating!

Satsuki: It's starting to wilt a bit. I think.

Hinata: I can't shoot it far enough yet...But I think I'm close!

* * *

_**Day 6**_

Naruto: I finally managed to convince Kakashi-sensei to tell me the trick to this...Time to cut this accursed leaf!

Satsuki: I did it! But Sensei said that I needed to do this on at least a hundred leaves...Tch.

Hinata: I missed again...

Haku: How dare they talk about Zabuza-sama like that! I should have killed Gatō's lackeys where they stood.

* * *

_**Day 7**_

Naruto sighed as walked along the streets of the village, taking in it's dilapidated state. Everywhere he looked, he saw the same scene: Dirty, rundown buildings and evidently malnourished people, be they children or adults. Even the shop he just went to barely had any food to sell. In an alleyway, more than a few men with parched lips gasped in pain as they laid in suffering. Villagers walking down the streets kept their heads down, avoiding eye contact with one another.

"Um...I'm sorry for making you help me out like this." Tsunami apologized, causing Naruto to refocus his attention.

"Ah no, it's no problem at all! I just wish I could do something about all this..." He replied as he continued to walk alongside the older woman, carrying a bag containing what little groceries then managed to find.

"But you're already helping by defending my father, are you not?"

"Well...Yeah." Naruto conceded uncertainly. "But I want to be able to do more! Seeing everyone like this...It's just sad."

This caused Tsunami to smile tenderly, touched by the amount of concern Naruto had. _"He doesn't even know us, yet he cares so much."_

"You're a really kind boy huh?" She praised, causing Naruto to stumble and blush.

"H-huh? A-anyway, why are there so many people who look like they haven't drank for days?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"That's because of Gatō's actions." Tsunami's face fell.

"Gatō's actions?"

"Yes. Not only is he preventing our men from being able to fish in their usual fishing spots, but he also prevents us from getting drinkable water. The nearby river has been struck with a sudden influx of pollution. We were lucky have noticed it in time to contain the damage to just this village, but because of that, our people have to venture out further into the woods in order to fetch water. And with Gatō's goons on the prowl, we have to worry about more than just wild animals. Some of our men still haven't returned. Whether they were captured or killed, we don't know."

"That's horrible!"

"It is, isn't it? But we are powerless to stop it. That's why Father is making this bridge. If he and his team can complete it, then we might be able stand a chance of surviving this ordeal."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure that Tazuna-ossan will be safe, so he can work on the bridge with no worries. That's a promise!" Naruto said, pounding his chest once with his fist. This made Tsunami giggle at the blond genin's antics, causing Naruto to grin. Suddenly, a boy wearing a dirty singlet rushed up to the two, panic evident in his eyes.

"T-Tsunami-san! Oh no, oh no, what should I do?" The boy frantically said.

"C-calm down, Kaito! Take a deep breath." Tsunami instructed, surprised by the boy's panic. The boy, Kaito, did as she said, visibly calming down.

"Good. Now tell me, what's the matter?" She asked in a calm voice.

"Oh, it's all my fault! A couple of days ago, I dared Kouta to go into the cave near the south end of the village." Kaito admitted, causing Tsunami to widen her eyes in shock.

"You mean _that_ cave? The one where some people have went in and never returned?" She asked, her voice turning from calm to grave, the sudden change surprising Naruto.

"Y-yeah." Kaito timidly replied. "I got angry when he called me a chicken 'cause I didn't want to explore the cave with him. So I dared him to go in by himself. I thought that he would be able to handle himself cause he's the bravest one of us all. But it's already been a couple of days and his mother said that he's still not back. Oh no, what should I do? I should've went with him! If only I wasn't such a coward..." He lamented, looking down in shame.

Kaito suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up and see Naruto.

"Hey, er...Kaito, was it? Can you lead me to where that cave is?" He asked, causing Tsunami and Kaito to widen their eyes in shock.

"W-wait, you mean?" The younger boy asked, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'll get your friend back! That's a promise! And I never break my promises." Naruto declared.

"Alright, I'll take you there!"

"Tsunami-san, I hope you don't mind if I let you go by yourself from here." Naruto sheepishly said.

"N-no, it's okay. Our house isn't too far from here. Just...be careful alright? We don't know what's in that cave that caused all those disappearances." Tsunami cautioned.

"You got it! Lead the way Kaito!"

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

"So this is the place?" Naruto asked, looking around. The cave was only a few hundred metres(1 metre=About 3 feet) away south from the village.

"Yeah. Kouta went in there, but never came out...I hope he's okay..."

"Hey, don't worry alright? I promise I'll get your friend back. You should go back to the village first." Naruto reassured, before turning away and heading into the cave. There were a few holes on the roof of the cave, allowing light to filter through. The smooth walls seemed to be never-ending as Naruto went deeper and deeper into the cave.

"Oi! Is anyone here? If you're Kouta, your friend Kaito asked me to find you!"

After a few minutes of walking and shouting, to no avail, Naruto stopped at an intersection. There were three paths leading left, right and forward respectively. Deciding to quicken his search, Naruto created a few dozen clones, separating them into three groups. Two went east and west, while Naruto followed the group going forward.

"If you find the kid, bring him back home okay?" Naruto ordered, which was met with a resounding "Yes, boss!" from the clones.

**(Meanwhile...)**

Kakashi raised an eyebrow when he saw Tsunami return alone. When asked as to where Naruto had gone, she told him about the whole debacle with Kaito and how he was currently in a cave searching for Kaito's friend.

"I guess I should've expected that from him. He's far too kind for his own good, though I suppose that's one of his good traits." Kakashi said, sighing.

"Um...Are you going to search for him?" Tsunami asked.

"Hmm...Nah, he can take care of himself. Besides, he's only exploring a cave. What harm could it be?"

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

"Whew, that was close. Good thing I thought of sending a couple of clones to make some torches." Naruto said, as he held a newly received torch from one of his **Kage Bunshin**.

He then continued forward, and he was met with another intersection. Without breaking stride, he let some of his clones split up further as he continued to move forward, shouting in hopes of a response.

"HELLO? ANYONE HERE?!" Naruto shouted for the umpteenth time, receiving no response.

"-eave."

"H-huh?" Naruto intelligently asked, looking around him. Deciding that it was only his imagination, he went further in. At this point, he was separated from all of his clones, all of them going on their own paths. Some have already dispelled themselves when they were met with a dead end, allowing him to know where not to go to.

Suddenly, while he was continuing down the path, Naruto's foot was caught by a rock, making him wobble. He quickly shot a hand out to a nearby wall to steady himself, causing his hand to meet the wall with a resounding thud.

...

...

...

_"A thud?" That doesn't sound right..." _Naruto thought, turning his attention to the wall. He then started to rap on the wall with his knuckles, and sure enough, he heard more thuds.

"Hmm...Maybe...Lemme try something." He thought out loud as he channeled chakra to his fist, reinforcing it. He then lashed out at the wall, easily breaking through.

"Knew it! There was something here!" He cheered, before focusing on what lied beyond the now-broken hollow wall. He walked down the newly opened path, which was gently sloping downward, and soon he noticed a change in his environment.

He was undoubtedly still within the cave, but there was now a unearthly, luminescent glow coming from further down the cave. The glow caused the cave to take on a weird, greenish-blue glow. He then heard a peculiar, but familiar noise.

"Is that...running water?" He thought out loud. He noticed the path ended with a exit not to far from him, and he took note that the glow seemed to be emanating from the exit.

He then heard giggles, which were distinctly feminine, resound throughout the cave. Realizing that he was not alone, Naruto slowed down and placed a hand on his katana, readying himself for a possible encounter. He then started to approach the entrance, and he was met with a sight he would have never had expected.

The exit had led to a huge cavern, with a large lake in the middle. A small waterfall cascaded into the lake, and the lake further streamed down into another passage. But that wasn't what shocked him the most. No, it was what was **in** the lake.

Or rather, who.

Four women frolicked in the lake's water. Or at least they seemed like women, for there was only a resemblance in their body shapes. Where there would usually be flesh, there was a coloured gelatinous substance in its stead. They weren't all of the same colour though, Naruto observed. When the women laughed, their bodies jiggled, further accentuating the fact that they were not made out of human flesh.

"W-what in the world?!" Naruto exclaimed, unable to contain his surprise. _"Who are these strange women? Why are their bodies so...inhuman? What is going on here?!"_

His impromptu shout had attracted the attention of the four women(?), causing them to stop giggling and instead turned to face him.

"Hmm? Ara, another human?" A mature-looking purple woman(?) asked, jiggling on the spot in what seemed to be excitement.

"Yay~ Another human to play with!" A red woman(?) exclaimed, jiggling as well.

"But how did he find us?" A smaller, blue woman(?) quietly asked.

"Ah! I'll go tell Eru-sama!" A green woman(?) announced, moving to go deeper into the cavern.

"W-wait, you shouldn't! Don't you remember what she did to the last one who came here?!" The red one exclaimed, stopping the green woman(?) and catching Naruto's attention.

"Ah...You're right. Eheheheheh..." She chuckled sheepishly.

"Wait wait wait! Just what is going on here?! Who are you? Why are you all so...jiggly? And what happened to the last guy who came here? Where is he?" Naruto blurted out, his confusion causing him to ask the most prominent questions on his mind.

* * *

**XXXxxxXXXX**

Satsuki sighed in relief as she finally crumpled her hundredth leaf with her chakra. It had taken longer than she had expected to finish such a simple exercise, even though she already knew how to do an elemental jutsu.

_"I suppose it's because I'm too used to using fire rather than lightning..."_ She mused as she stood up.

"Looks like you've finally managed to do it, huh?" Kakashi's voice suddenly said from behind her, startling the Uchiha.

"Hn." She grunted after regaining her composure, "As an Uchiha, such a simple task is nothing."

"Even though you took about three days?" Kakashi pointed out, causing the Uchiha heiress to mildly blush.

"W-well, that was-" She tried to reply, flustered.

"Mah, mah, enough about that for now. Now that you've finally cleared that step, we can move on." Kakashi said, causing Satsuki to smirk in excitement.

* * *

**XXXxxxXXX**

"Wait, lemme get this straight." Naruto started, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're a species known as Slimes and you've been living in this place for years?!"

"Yup! We didn't always live inside this cavern though. We used to live on the surface and only came here to play." The red slime (Who had introduced herself as Akane.) chirped.

"Really? Then what happened?" Naruto asked, causing the slimes to lose their cheerful expressions.

"Well...You see-"

"You humans came and built your factories, polluting our homes." A cold voice quietly said, cutting the slime girl off. Naruto turned to see another slime girl emerging from deeper within the cavern. The slime girl had blue skin, or whatever was considered as skin for slimes. Naruto was honestly starting to get a headache just from learning about these strange beings, let alone about what their skin is called. She also had red, rune-like markings all over her body. Her face was set in a cold, emotionless expression and her piercing red eyes seem to glow as their glare balefully at the blond Uzumaki.

"Erubetie-sama!" Akane exclaimed in shock.

"Wha-? What do you mean?!" Naruto asked.

"It matters not. You, human, are polluting our waters." She coldly accused.

"W-wait a second! I'm not here to pollute the water or anything!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

"I care not about what you came here for. Leave our home. Now."

"Ah, mou! Would it kill you to just listen to me?! Anyway, I ain't leaving until I find what I'm searching for! I made a promise, and I keep my promises!" Naruto said resolutely, hand already on the hilt of his katana.

"Very well then. Whomever disturbs our home...No matter who it is, I'll melt them..." Erubetie declared, shooting forward swiftly as tendrils with pointed edges started to emerge from her back and her hands.

**(Insert OST: The Four Heavenly Knights) **

"Guh!" Naruto rolled to the side, drawing his blade to repel a few tendrils. Surprisingly, the steel of the katana was unable to cut through the gelatinous substance.

Naruto swiftly lunged forward, forgoing attacking the tendrils, and instead slashed at the slime woman, creating a large gash on her body. To his surprise however, Erubetie continued to stare coldly as the wound suddenly began to rapidly close.

_"Now that's just not fair..."_ Naruto thought bitterly as he jumped back to dodge more of the tendrils, which crashed down on the rocky ground, creating a small crater. Naruto audibly gulped as he looked at the damage the seemingly harmless substance had done to the ground. He made a mental note to NOT get hit by the slime woman's attacks.

"Your efforts are futile. You cannot injure me, especially not with a sword. Now give up, and I shall end you swiftly." Erubetie coldly stated. She raised her arm yet again to launch a few tendrils at the young blond, this time increasing the size of each slimy appendage.

"As if! I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, so there!" Naruto shot back as he raised his katana. "**Raitei Suiryoku!**"

The attack dug into the woman's flesh, creating a large puncture wound. Not letting up, Naruto immediately followed with a slash to chest before having to roll to the side to dodge her strike. Again, the wounds he inflicted her with rapidly closed, leaving no indication that there was any wound in the first place. However, Naruto noticed something about her regeneration.

_"It didn't heal as fast?" _Naruto observed, eyeing the now non-existent wound. Indeed, from what he could recall from before, the wound he had inflicted her with at first had healed almost instantly, whereas the new ones took a bit of time before closing up. Deciding to test something, Naruto rushed forward once more.

**"Akki Zanshu!"** He yelled. The decapitating technique hit its mark, slicing the slime woman's head off. He then continued to slash at her body, scoring blow after blow before jumping back to avoid her attack once again. Observing the damage, Naruto saw Erubetie's head reattach itself to the rest of her body, while the slash wounds closed themselves up, albeit much slower than before. Realizing this, Naruto smirked.

"Looks like you aren't so invulnerable after all, huh?" Naruto taunted as the slime woman's body finished regenerating.

"..." Erubetie coldly stared at Naruto, unnerving the blond.

"W-what?" Naruto asked, perturbed.

"...I dislike humans. Do you know why us of the slime race live here?" Erubetie asked. "Humans pollute the water and steal away the environment for their own usage."

"Th...that's..." Naruto tried to argue, but found that he couldn't. After all, what right did he have? He had no idea of what they went through. "But humans are suffering as a result of this pollution as well! We have no idea what caused the pollution!"

"Silence. Your words do nothing to change my opinion." Erubetie cut Naruto off. "You polluted this spring with your presence...I'll need to give you your _reward_ for that." Slime from her body began to swirl and spread out around the slime woman, causing Naruto to widen his eyes in shock and jump back to avoid the slime.

"I'll melt you away...Feel the anger and sorrow of our race as you dissolve into nothing."

The slime rose and formed into a massive tsunami, rising up as high as the cavern's roof. The tsunami then flew towards him, threatening to consume the blond.

"Well, shit."

* * *

**Eeeyup. Slime Girls. I went there.**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**WELCOME TO FREAKYLAND, PEOPLE!**

**Ahem. Well, at least no one can accuse me of not using more of the source material. **

**I know I skimmed over a good portion of the Wave Arc, but that was partly because I wanted to get to the more vital parts quickly. If you didn't like that, I apologize. **

**Anyways, lemme know what you think about this chapter. Liked it? Hated it? Want to eviscerate me for taking so goddamn long? What did you think about SSS? (I might try and make that a regular thing so that I can delve into the psyche of the characters more.) Then go ahead and leave a review!**

**...I have no idea when Chapter 11 is coming.**

**Sul~**


End file.
